Strong
by CassiopeiaKnight
Summary: Two years after her parents are killed in a crash, Arya is attacked leaving work. A Man comes to her rescue. He teaches her to fight and she learns to open her heart along the way. Sansa has been working at the Lion's Den Tattoo Shop for two years when a Hound comes in for a tattoo. She learns a lot about the scarred man, but also learns that love won't always hurt you. MODERN AU.
1. Chapter 1

Hello Everyone! This is my very first Fic. I've been a reader for a very long time, but never really thought about writing my own story. I noticed that there wasn't a lot of Arya/Jaqen pairings in the fanfiction world and I thought that there should be more of them in the world. This is an Alternate Universe/Modern Universe story. This will be a story with violence, so if that's not for you, I won't be offended if you bypass this fic. There will be other pairings in this story but it is mainly focused on Arya/Jaqen and Sansa/Sandor. I am looking for a beta reader, so if you read this first chapter and think this is something for you, please feel free to message me.

I won't be profiting from this story and the only thing I own about it is the plot. George R. R. Martin is the mastermind for the Game of Thrones universe and I just wanted to have some fun with these characters.

So without further ado,I present my story.

NOTE: HEAVY VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER. MAY TRIGGER SOME READERS

* * *

 **Chapter One:**

"Hey, girl! Can I get two more ales down here?" It had been a long and rough night at work for Arya Stark, and apparently, it wasn't ending any time soon. "Yea, give me a minute!" she hollered back to the portly, bearded man at the end of the bar. She just needed to finish mixing drinks for the two, young girls in front of her.

She had been working at The Harren Hall for just over a year now, starting just after her 18th nameday. She enjoyed the job well enough. Her coworkers, Gendry and Hot Pie, were what really made the job alright. They were two of the best friends she could have asked for. Her employer, Petyr Baelish on the other hand, was a creepy older gentleman who she could barely stand to be around. After the car accident two years before, that claimed the lives of her parents and her two younger brothers, Arya knew that she would need to find a job to help the rest of her siblings keep the house. Her twin older brothers, Robb and Jon, and her older sister Sansa, were all she had left. They knew that they needed to stick together, no matter what.

Running back to the store room to grab another two bottles of whiskey, she ran into Gendry. "Glad we're only here for another half hour?" he asked, with a smirk on his face. "More than glad. Joyous even!" she replied. "Now get out of the way!" "Of course, Milady!" was his response. He had loved to tease her with that nickname. He gave it to her barely two weeks after she started. When he had nearly run right into her as she was trying to get behind the bar, she told him to watch where he was going. She had called him a "stubborn bull" since he seemed to be charging into the store room with a purpose. He bowed low after passing her, saying "So sorry, Milady! Wouldn't want to harm a delicate thing like yourself." Oh that pissed her off to no end. Arya Stark was not delicate. She spent the next month trying to prove him otherwise.

Finally closing time had come. It had been an unusually busy Sunday night and she was very glad to see the end of her shift. "How much did you make tonight Arya?" Hot Pie had asked her. He wasn't usually tipped very well. He was a larger, young man and wasn't as pleasing to the eye as Gendry was. She loved him all the same though. Due to his preference for the same sex, he obviously never made a move on Arya, thus avoiding any awkward encounters like those she had had with Gendry after a few drunken nights and hung-over mornings spent together. He was one of the people she was closest to in Westeros, next to her siblings. "About 22 dollars" she informed him. "Not my best, but definitely not my worst either." she added. "Jon picking you up tonight?" Gendry had followed with. She hadn't rode her bike to work today, due to the rain, so her brother had dropped her off earlier, telling her to just call him as soon as she needed to be picked up. "Yep. I'm gonna call him as soon as I'm done taking out the trash." "So we'll see you on Thursday?" Hot Pie questioned. "If not before that." she answered, using her backside to open the door, since she was carrying a bag of waste in each hand. "Have a good night boys." she said before the door closed.

The alley beside the bar was empty, save for a couple of stragglers leaving the bar. She promptly tossed the bags in the large green bin next to the door and closed the lid. After wiping her hands on her ripped, black jeans, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket to call her brother.

"Hullo?" muttered a husky voice on the other end of the call. "Did I wake you sleeping beauty?" she teased. "Yea, as a matter of fact you did" he barked back. She responded with a hearty laugh. "Sorry big brother, but you did agree to come and pick me up when I was done work. And I'm calling to let you know that I am done." "Alright, I gotta get dressed and grab the keys from Robb and I'll be on my way. Give me 20 minutes." he told her. "See you when you get here." she replied.

After she hung up the phone she placed it in her front pocket. She hated sitting on it, so she thought it was a better idea to just put it here now, instead of moving it when she climbed into the passenger seat of Jon and Robb's truck.

She heard footsteps behind her in the alley, but didn't think anything of it. It was most likely just some vagrant looking through the bins for something to eat. She heard the steps getting closer and before she could turn around to see who it was, she was grabbed from behind.

"What do you think you're do-" was all she managed to get out before a large, wet hand was over her mouth.

"Now, what's a pretty thing like you doing in a dark alley all alone at this time of night?" came a deep voice in her ear. "Waiting on a boyfriend maybe? Well don't worry. I'm sure we'll be finished before he gets here." He turned her around then and pushed her back against the hard brick wall. It was too dark to get a clear view of his face but she could see the thick, dark beard that he had. "I bet your cunt is nice and tight. I can't wait to make you bleed bitch." he spat in her face. She could smell his foul breath through his fingers and she almost lost the contents of her stomach against his hand. She could feel that he was already hard as he pressed up against her. She then started to struggle against him.

She wasn't making much progress so she did the first thing that she could think of to get him away from her and she bit down on his hand as hard as she could. "You stupid fucking bitch!" he yelled at her as he pulled his hand away. But before she could get away, he punched her on the left side of her face, hitting her in the mouth. She tasted blood. She wasn't sure if it was his from her bite or her own from the punch. But that didn't matter. What mattered was her surviving this in any way possible.

He hit her again, causing her to hit her head hard against the brick wall this time. A blinding pain went through her head after it hit the bricks and it made her see white spots in her eyes. During her moment of blindness and confusion he threw her violently to the ground and gave her a hard kick to the stomach before he climbed on top of her. Hitting her in the face twice more, once in the eye and the other in the mouth again, she whimpered out. After his last hit, she knew she wouldn't be able to scream for help.

He produced a knife from somewhere she couldn't see and cut right down the middle of her shirt, until her breasts and the rest of her torso were bare. "I'm going to enjoy making this hurt you dumb bitch. It's gonna be that much better for me." he whispered in her ear. He forced his mouth on to hers then, forcing his tongue as far in as it could go. She held back her vomit for a second time. His hand roaming all over her chest, grabbing at her breasts forcefully, she tried to think of anything to distract her from what was happening. He forced his hand under her bra and found a nipple. She cried out as he pinched, tears forming in her eyes from the pain and violation. After hearing this, he laughed and proceeded to shift his position over top her.

He moved into a position so that all his weight was holding her down, he restrained her two small wrists with his one large hand and undid her jeans with his other. He moved his hand over her panties and ripped as hard as he could. The sound of the tearing fabric felt deafening. She could feel his disgusting hand on her folds, scratching and prodding for entrance. She cried out again, closing her eyes, praying to the gods that this would all be over quickly.

He removed his hand and she knew that this was it. He was going to force himself inside her then. With the way she was restrained and the amount of pain she was in, she knew there was no use in trying to fight back anymore. She shut down.

Suddenly, his weight was gone. 'What, did he get up to remove his pants or something?' she thought to herself. She opened her eyes, to see that her attacker was now on the ground, about five feet from her with another figure over top him.

"A girl is too pure for a monster like you." Arya heard the stranger say to her attacker, before quickly hitting him in the face. She gasped. The stranger turned to look at her then, and smiled. As he turned back to her attacker he said, "A monster is lucky a girl lives, for he would not if otherwise." He then climbed off and proceeded to walk over to her.

She attempted to scurry back in fear, not managing to make it more than a foot before he knelt down to look her in the eyes. Her attacker took this moment to run away as fast as his large body could take him. She watched as he ran to the end of the alley then turned left and out of sight. She looked back at her rescuer then. She noticed his deep blue eyes scanning her face. She could only imagine how horrible she looked in that moment.

She then remembered her cut shirt and attempted to cover her breasts, as she felt a blush come over her cheeks.

"A girl needn't be embarrassed. She has suffered a horrible attack. Here" He wrapped his leather jacket around her to try and ease whatever pain he could.

"Th-thank you." She managed to get out.

"Is a girl alright?" her savior asked.

She asked herself that question. Was she alright? No. Absolutely not. Some disgusting thing, she couldn't even call him a man, put his hands all over her and violated her in ways she didn't even want to continue to recall.

"I will be." She answered back. And it was true. She would be alright, no matter how long it took for it to happen. She would overcome this and come out stronger. She was never going to let something like this happen to her again.

He moved the blue streak of hair that was in front of her eyes behind her ear and said "I'm sure a girl will be."

He started to walk her towards the end of the alley, and it was in this moment, with the growing light, that she took in his appearance.

He was older than her. Possibly older than her brothers, but not by much. He had a handsome face and kind blue eyes. His shoulder length hair, she noticed, was red. It was red except for the one white streak he had in front of his left ear. 'An interesting look' she thought to herself. 'An interesting look for sure, but not a bad one'

"Does a girl have a name?" he asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Arya" she replied. "Arya Stark. And you?"

"A man is Jaqen H'ghar. It is nice to meet you Arya Stark." he told her as he bowed his head.

It was then that the large, black 1987 Chevrolet pickup pulled up to the curb.

Jon, taking in her beaten appearance, immediately jumped out of the truck to see what had happened.

"Arya, oh Gods! Arya are you alright?" he yelled, grabbing her and pulling her to his chest. "Arya what happened?" he asked. It was then, in the warmth and safety of her brothers arms that she broke down. Sobbing hard, she couldn't manage to get a word out. It was as if everything that had just happened all hit her all at once. Breaking dam that she didn't know was there, the tears fell freely.

Jaqen spoke up in this moment. "A man was walking by the end of the alley when he heard a girl's cry. He went to seek out the source of the noise and found a girl was being attacked. As soon as a man realized what was happening, he pulled the monster off of a girl and made sure he would also be leaving in pain this night."

"Gods, someone attacked you Arya? Do you know who it was? Did you get a look at his face? Do you need the hospital? Should we go to the City Watch?" Jon said quickly. He said it all so fast she barely had time to understand all of it. He made it all sound as if it was one sentence. She tried to calm herself down and after a few moments she told him, "No, Jon. I don't know who it was and I didn't get a good look at his face either. All I could see was that he had a beard. And no, I don't want to go to the hospital or the City's Watch. I just want to go home and wash him off of me." She shuttered, thinking about all of the private places his hands had been. "Then we'll go home." Jon told her.

He took Jaqen's leather jacket off of her and handed it back to the man, quickly replacing it with his sweater. "Thank you for what you did for my sister. Another man may have just left her there." Jon said as he handed back the jacket.

"A man did what was right." was all that he said in response.

With that, Jon nodded his head and watched as the red haired stranger turned and walked down the street. He turned back to Arya and held on to her as he opened his truck door with his hand. He lifted her into the cab, placing her gently on the passenger seat knowing full well that she had trouble on a good day trying to climb into his lifted truck, let alone after something like this. Once he knew she was in, he closed the door, making sure not to hit her while doing so, walked around the front of the truck, opened his door and jumped inside. He quickly moved to fasten her seatbelt for her, and then fastened his own. Once they were both in and safe, he did a U-turn and drove in the direction of home, praying to the Gods that his sweet sister was going to be alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello All! Well, here's Chapter Two. We get Sansa's point of view in this chapter, along with Arya's. There's been no reviews yet, so that sucks, but I'm optimistic. I really hope anyone who has read the first chapter enjoyed it, and hopefully it peaked your interests. I know, it's not for everyone, but I hope someone likes it.

No violence in this chapter, just a little language towards the end.

I will never make any money from this story, I just wanted to play around with the characters. I own nothing aside from the plot.

Please read and if you enjoy, please review. Heck, even if you don't enjoy, review. I'd love to hear it.

I'm still looking for a Beta if anyone is interested.

Thanks Guys!

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 **Chapter Two:**

Sansa Stark woke on that cloudy, Monday morning thinking that her family had already suffered enough. Losing their parents, Ned and Catelyn, would have been more than tragic. But to lose Bran and Rickon too, that was too much. The accident was so horrible, the bodies so badly burned, they had to use dental records to identify the victims. Sansa knew her mother didn't even like the Greyjoys, so it was that much worse that they died coming home from their house after a stupid party.

Sansa thought that the accident and then everything she had endured with Ramsay was more than enough suffering for one family to endure in one lifetime. Apparently the Gods had other plans. When she heard that Arya had been attacked, it had chilled her to the core. Arya had always been such a force to be reckoned with, so she could only guess how bad it must have been for her little sister. Sansa had already endured her share of abuse at the hands of a monster.

Ramsay Bolton was the epitome of pure evil. His physical and emotional abuse had changed her permanently, and she wasn't sure if it was for the better. When she finally managed to leave his clutches, he had been hours north on a trip with his father. He had called her saying horrible things about her and her family and all of the plans he had for her when he returned home. She had told him that this was it, they were done. She thought she would never have to see his face again. Her brothers had made sure of that. Any time that Ramsay had tried to come around the house, one, if not both of the boys, was outside threatening him with force. She knew that she couldn't go to the City's Watch because of the position that Ramsay's father Roose had within the mayor's office. She just had to hope that her brothers were enough to keep him away. So far they had been, and it had been six months since he came by last, so she felt that he wouldn't be returning.

After staying in her bed long enough after her alarm went off, she got up to have a shower before going to work.

Once she was finished with her shower, and her long auburn hair was dried, she maneuvered her tresses into a simple chignon for the day and set about finding herself some clothes. Deciding on a simple pair of blue jeans and a flowery tank, she put her leather boots on, grabbed the keys to the rental car she had while hers was at Tormund's garage and headed off to The Lion's Den Tattoo shop.

xxxxx

Arya woke to the sound of Sansa's car leaving the driveway. Her dreams had been filled with the stench of alcohol and deep voices, so she had gotten very little sleep. She felt sore all over and when she tried to open her eyes, she discovered only the right one would open, the left having swollen shut. She grunted, just imagining how awful she looked. She showered as soon as she got home the night before to wash the filth off her. No matter how long and how hard she scrubbed at her skin, she still didn't feel clean. It was only when Robb's voice coming through the bathroom door told her that she had been in the shower for 45 minutes did she realize that the water had long run cold. After drying off and slipping into her camisole and some boxer shorts, she climbed into bed and fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.

She decided to try and get up. She wanted to see the damage that beast had inflicted upon her. As she sat up, the pain in her side hit her like a freight train. She was sure that her ribs had to have been cracked if not broken. She knew that she would be taking something to dull the pain, whether that was something medicinal or alcoholic, she couldn't handle this pain all day.

She climbed out of bed and struggled to walk to the full length mirror she had standing in the corner of her room so that she could survey her injuries.

Her eye was horribly purple and was naturally the first thing that had stood out to her, since it was dominating her petite face. She thought her eye was an even deeper purple than the colour of Sansa's car, and that car was _purple_. She looked away from her eye to see that the swelling of her lips had disappeared. All that remained was a split in the middle.

Taking her eyes away from her face she looked at the rest of her body. She noticed the finger print shaped bruises on both of her wrists. She touched her left wrist with her right hand, attempting to cover the finger prints with her own tiny fingers, discovering the bruises were much larger than she thought. She then pulled her camisole off to see what the inevitable bruises on her ribs looked like.

She gasped when she took in the sight. It wasn't even the large black bruise that she found to be the worst part of her injuries. Although the bruise was horrific, she found the scratches that moved across her breasts and down her stomach, to be the most sickening.

She shuddered, thinking back to that filthy pig's hands roaming across her. She had been so out of it when it was happening that she didn't even realize that he had torn her skin. Tears started to form in her eyes at the memory of the night before and she turned away from the mirror.

She knew then, that she wouldn't be able to leave the bed today. She couldn't bear to see the looks of pity that she knew she would find on her siblings faces when they looked at her. There was no way she would be able to handle it. So she closed her blinds, making the bedroom as dark as she could, crawled underneath her comforter, and prayed to the Gods that sleep would find her.

xxxxx

Sansa had decided last minute that she would pay her brothers a visit at their job site today. She knew they would be at the same house they were at last week, it was a fairly large home, a mansion even, in a wealthy neighborhood, that Lannister Homes was currently developing.

She grabbed some fast food on the way, knowing that the boys wouldn't have eaten breakfast. 'They never have, so why start now?' she thought to herself. It was only just after nine that morning, so she knew that it wouldn't spoil their lunch. She made a quick call to Margery at the shop to tell her that she may run a little late and she would explain everything when she got there. Margery had told her to take her time, since Sansa was never one to call in sick or late, she knew that it must be serious. Sansa told her that she would be there for her 11:30 appointment, said thanks and hung up the phone, just as she turned onto the street that the boys were working on.

The house was much larger than the boys had described. She wondered what the family that was having this house built did, to be able to afford such a large, new home.

She looked at the building and found the boys on the scaffolding at the front of the house immediately and honked her horn before getting out of her car. She saw them look at each other and then to a middle aged gentleman on the ground to clarify that they could take a break. She saw him respond with a nod and he held up both hands to let them know that they had 10 minutes. They nodded back and proceeded to climb down the scaffolding.

As they were walking to her, she got a good look at the other men that were working at the front of the house. There was only one man that really stood out to her, but that was because there was no way she could have missed him. He was a very large man, with black, curly hair that he had tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. She noticed him then looking at her, only to find that the right side of his face was horribly scarred. She turned away from him at once, a flush coming over her face at the embarrassment of being caught staring.

The boys reached her then and Robb spoke. "Sansa, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your way to work?" he had asked. "I called the shop and told them I'd be running late. Marg didn't question it and said to take my time. I wanted to talk to you about Arya, without her hearing us. I also came to bring you this." She lifted up the brown bag show them. Their eyes lit up then and she could tell that they were already hungry. She rolled her eyes, wondering why they wouldn't just eat before they left, if they are already this hungry. They still had a few hours til lunch! "Idiots" she muttered under her breath, as Jon grabbed the bag from her.

"What are we going to do about this?" she asked them both. "We really don't know Sansa. We've been talking about it all morning, and we both think that Arya needs to be involved in this decision." Robb told her. "She's in way too fragile a state for her to make her own choices right now! She thinks she's stronger than she is, but as someone who has already been down this path, I know that it's gonna be a lot harder for her to deal with than she could possibly understand." She yelled back. "Sansa, we know. The only person, who might have a clue as to how she feels after all this, is going to be you." Jon said. "But she's gonna want to decide for herself what she thinks is best." "I know Jon. It's just hard. I thought I would never have to think about something like this again, but here it is. Now it's bringing back bad memories. Maybe that's what's really bothering me, aside from the obvious." She replied. "But you guys have to get back to work, so I'll let you go. We'll talk more tonight at dinner." "You're still making chicken parm, right? It _is_ Arya's favourite." Robb asked. "Of course I am. Now get back to work!" she responded, before walking back to her tiny silver rental.

As she pulled away, she thought of her own car. She loved her 1967 purple GTO. She cherished it more than anything she owned. After everything that happened with Ramsay, she needed to put her focus and spare time into something. So she bought the first run down muscle car she could find for a decent price. With the help of Tormund and his sister (and Jon's girlfriend) Ygritte, she built that car from the ground up. Several thousand dollars and a few hundred man hours later, her baby was almost ready for the drag track. That was her favourite thing to do on her Saturdays off. She loved the smell and sounds of the track as much, if not more than she loved tattooing. The feel of pure power coming from the engine was one of the most thrilling things she had experienced in the world. And she had only been a passenger so far. Tormund had let her begin to practice behind his shop, getting ready for her first quarter mile, so she was more than excited for her first race. She and Tormund just had to make a few more touch ups to the car, and her baby would be ready for the track.

The drive to The Lion's Den went by quickly and before she knew it, she was listening to the bell chime as she was walking through the door. Myrcella was wishing Sansa a good morning as she walked by the front desk. She was young and sweet, a friendly face to greet everyone as they walked in the door. She could only hope that her words would ring true.

Just as she was pulling out her inks and her gun for her first client of the day, Margery stuck her head in the door of Sansa's work room and asked her what was going on. Margery Tyrell was Sansa's best friend in and out of the shop. She was already working there when Sansa was hired, and they bonded very quickly. Margery's brother Loras also worked at the shop, though he mostly kept to himself. Brienne Tarth and Podrick Payne were the newest members on staff, though Brienne had already been tattooing for 10 years. Pod was an apprentice under her. He was a kind young man and he had a lot of artistic talent, so Sansa was confident he would excel as an artist. It made for a cozy work environment, with just the six of them, but Sansa liked it that way.

"So, Arya was attacked leaving work last night." was all that Sansa said.

"Holy shit! Is she okay? What happened?" Margery questioned. "She's pretty banged up. She has a horrible black eye and split lip, and we're pretty sure a couple of cracked ribs. But she didn't have to go see the maesters at the hospital, so we think she's okay." Sansa answered. At least she hoped she would be. The physical wounds would heal fast enough, but the emotional ones were going to be a lot harder to fix. "Did he get very far?" Margery asked in a hushed voice, not confident she wanted to hear the answer. "Farther than any of us would have liked." was all Sansa could manage.

"She'll make it out of this. No matter how long it takes. Arya is strong enough to find a way to move past this." Margery told Sansa, hoping that it would bring some comfort to her friend. Sansa could only pray to the Gods that she was right.


	3. Chapter 3

Well I hope that everyone had a good weekend. For those of you who celebrated Easter, I hope you had an enjoyable one. I didn't write on the weekend so that I could spend some time with my families, but I'm back. I plan on posting fairly frequently, but I'll let you all know if anything changes.

This story now has three reviews! It was very heartwarming to see that there are actually people that are reading and enjoying what I have to say.

So I'm going to make a shout out to my first reviewers. Thank you so much to nana2896, pullynnhah, and to HijadeSandor. Also, HijadeSandor, I put your comment through GoogleTranslate, so I could translate it the best I could. I did take Spanish in high school though, so I do know how to say Muchas Gracias!

Anyway, this Chapter is all about the family. So it may not be all that exciting but I think it's very sweet, and I hope you enjoy it.

I will be making no money from this story unfortunately, all the characters and places are the property of George R R Martin.

Please read and review! xoxo

* * *

 **Chapter Three:**

It was just after four thirty in the afternoon when Arya made it out of bed. It was her hunger that had awoken her. She knew that she would have to eat something before the day was out. Her siblings would all be getting home within the next hour, so she figured that now was as good time as any to get out of bed.

She chose to climb in the shower, hoping the hot water would ease some of the pain she was feeling. She made a mental note to take some pain medicine when she got out of the shower. She picked out some simple grey sweatpants, knowing that there was no one she needed to impress today, and a worn concert t-shirt, she grabbed a pair of clean underwear and a bra and walked across the hall to the bathroom she shared with her three siblings.

She connected her phone to the speaker she had in the bathroom and put on some music to listen to while she was showering. It was a routine she was used to, so she figured it may bring her some sense of normality to the way she was feeling. After she found a nice, loud, heavy metal song, she undressed and climbed in to the already running shower. The water was nice and hot, her brothers may even call it scalding. Sansa always told her that the water was too hot for her, that it wasn't good to have the water that hot, because it would dry out her skin, but Arya didn't care. She loved it and wouldn't let anyone tell her different.

As she let the hot water flow across her marred skin, she thought about the stranger she had met last night. Where had he come from? How did he know someone needed help? She thought she remembered him talking to Jon when he came to pick her up, but she couldn't recall any of the details. All she could remember was the handsome face with the mysterious smirk. And the eyes, the deep, blue eyes. Those would be something she would not soon forget. When he looked at her she felt that he wasn't looking at her, but looking in her, towards the depth of her soul. She felt that she could have given him anything he asked of her in that moment. She had never felt like that meeting anyone before. It was a strange feeling, and one she wasn't completely sure she was comfortable with.

She knew that his name was Jaqen, Jaqen H'ghar. She thought it was a strange name, clearly not from Westeros. Then again, he didn't seem like anyone she'd ever met from Westeros. He also spoke in the third person, which was very odd. She thought she recalled learning about a place where they spoke in this manner, but she couldn't place it at the moment. She'd think on it later, maybe ask one of her brothers if they knew.

She washed and rinsed her hair, then started to wash her body. She hated looking at the marks on her chest and stomach, but she knew that they were just scratches and after a few days they would be gone completely. None were deep enough to permanently scar her; she found this to be a glimmer of hope within the darkness.

After washing and shaving, she shut the water off and wrapped her hair in a towel, and wrapped a towel around her body. She dreaded looking in the mirror again, knowing that she was a pitiful sight with her bruises. She shut the music off, wiped her body dry and dressed before she wiped off the mirror. The bruises were as purple as ever but the sleep and shower did help her eye to open, not fully, but open nonetheless. She decided to dry her hair, since she hated the feeling of wet hair, so she grabbed her hair dryer from under the sink and set about drying it. She noticed the blue streak that she had put in her shoulder length hair three weeks ago was still quite vibrant. She was very pleased with the result. Looking at her streak, she remembered the white one that her stranger had. She wondered if his was deliberately put there or just a quirk of his body. She shook the thought from her head. "It doesn't matter what it is, because you're never going to see him again, idiot!" she told her reflection in the mirror.

Once she deemed her hair dry enough, she brushed through it one last time, put her hair dryer back under the sink, and headed downstairs to await the arrival of her brothers and sister.

xxxxx

Sansa was first to arrive home. When she walked in to their two story, yellow brick house, the first place she went was the kitchen. That is where she found Arya, sitting at the dining table and playing on her phone.

"I'm glad to see that you're up and walking around. How are you feeling?" Sansa asked her younger sister. "Like shit." Arya answered. "But I took some milk of the poppy for the pain, so hopefully that'll help." Sansa worried for her sister. She knew of people that had taken their use of medicine too far, and now relied heavily on it to keep going, she didn't want her sister to become dependent upon it. "Well alright, but please don't take too much." Sansa told her. "I'm not stupid, so don't treat me like I am." Arya retorted with. Sansa groaned. She knew they were going to be in for a long night.

She decided to let Arya continue to play on her phone while she started making dinner. She grabbed the thawed chicken out of the fridge and started cutting it in to more manageable pieces. "What are we having?" Arya inquired. "Chicken Parm. I thought that I'd make something I knew you would like and maybe even appreciate for dinner tonight." Sansa replied. She saw how Arya's eyes lit up and she couldn't help but to smile.

Just as she was putting the chicken in the oven, the boys walked in the door. "Smells good sis!" Robb said before he kissed Sansa on the forehead. "It's just going in the oven; it doesn't smell like anything yet!" Sansa told him. He laughed as he went to kiss Arya on her head the same way he had just kissed Sansa. Jon entered the kitchen then laughing along with his siblings. "Well I'm sure it will taste amazing Sansa, your cooking always does." he told her as he kissed her the same as his twin before. Some people may see this sign of affection as a little strange, but after their parents died, the brothers started doing it. It was something that their father had always done to his two daughters, so the boys wanted to keep the tradition alive.

The boys went upstairs to shower before dinner, and Sansa quickly filled a pot of water for the spaghetti before the boys turned the showers on.

The spaghetti was just finished and Sansa was draining the noodles when the boys came back in the kitchen. Robb started to clean off the table while Jon grabbed plates and utensils so he could set it. Arya stayed at her seat, not really wanting to get up, thinking that her siblings would surely understand. They must have, for no one made a comment about it.

Once the table was set, Sansa brought the bowl of noodles and the dish of chicken and set them down in the middle. "Well, dig in everyone." she stated simply. No one said anything as they grabbed their food or the entire time they were eating for that matter. No one really knew how to start the conversation and no one wanted to be the first one to talk, so the four siblings chose to eat in silence instead.

After the meal was finished and the leftovers packed up and put away, the siblings all sat down at the table once more to have the necessary discussion of what needed to be done. When no one made the first move, Sansa decided that she needed to be the one to do it. "Well, obviously something needs to be done, because there's no way that any of us are going to let something like this happen again." she had stated. "What am I supposed to be able to do to prevent it, if it ever did?" Arya questioned. "Well, maybe you should quit your job so there's less of a chance that it could happen." Sansa answered. "NO! That's completely out of the question!" Arya yelled at her. "I love my job. I just need to make sure that I'm not going to get hurt again." "Maybe one of us could drive you to and from work every shift?" Robb suggested. "I don't need to be babysat. I'm not a child. I can drive myself." Arya said, dismissing the suggestion. "Well, what did you have in mind, sweet sister?" Jon asked. "I don't know. I just know that I need to learn how to defend myself." Arya responded. Sansa had a feeling that she knew where this conversation was going to go, and she didn't like it. "So what are you saying Arya?" Sansa questioned, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"I've been thinking about it, and I think I need to join a gym." Arya told her siblings. "What do you need to join a gym for?" Robb teased. "I'm tiny. I need to build some muscle if I'm going to learn how to defend myself." She told him with a scowl on her face. She wasn't impressed that he was trying to joke around in a situation like this one. "Defend yourself?! You really think that just because you gain a little muscle, you'll be able to take on a grown man?" Jon asked. "Well no, not initially, but if I joined a gym where I learned how to fight, maybe I'd stand a chance." she told him, looking down at her hands. She was embarrassed. She knew she was small, she wasn't stupid, but if she knew what she was doing, she was sure she could inflict some damage. She knew the basics already, kick them in their cock. That would bring down any man, right?

"Arya, we're scared for you. Do you really think that you would be able to handle something like this?" Jon asked her. He was using a soft voice; he didn't want to hurt her feelings by making her think that he didn't believe in her. "I could do it Jon. I know I could. I'm never gonna let something like this happen to me again, and this is the way to do it." she told them all.

"Well, I really don't see a point in trying to argue with you. I know it wouldn't get me anywhere." Sansa said, sounding defeated. "If you think that you'll be able to handle it, then I don't see a problem with it." "Besides, you're 19, so we really can't stop you, even if we all wanted to." Robb added. "Then, I suppose it's been decided. Just make sure that it's a good gym with a safe reputation. We don't need you getting hurt because they didn't know what they were doing." Jon told her. He couldn't bear it if she was hurt again, regardless of the reason. "Thank you guys, I'm glad that you have faith in me." Arya said to her siblings, managing a small smile. "Aw! What a great family moment you guys! Group hug!" Robb shouted. The three remaining siblings all groaned in unison, but they humoured him anyways.

They all decided that they would watch a movie before they went to bed for the evening. The boys, picked the movie, they agreed that they should choose something light hearted, so they chose something from their childhood that they all loved. Arya came in from the kitchen after making some popcorn, at the same time that Sansa returned with some blankets. When they all were situated together on the couch, Robb pressed play on the remote. The song that started playing was instantly recognizable. "The Lion King?!" both sisters shouted together. "We figured if, there was any night that needed a Disney movie, it was this one." Jon told them, as Robb nodded from the other side of Sansa.

With that, the four Stark siblings relaxed and enjoyed the quality time they were able to spend with each other, putting all of the horrible thoughts of what happened the previous night in the past.

* * *

Author's Note:

The Lion King is entirely the property of Disney.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello Everyone!

Here's Chapter Four. We get to see some new perspectives in this chapter. Some of these characters may seem OOC, so if you're not interested, that's okay. I hope you enjoy this one.

Please Read and Review!

xoxo

* * *

 **Chapter Four:**

Arya woke the next day to find that her left eye was able to open completely. She was happy with the progress of her healing, though she wished there was nothing that she had to heal from.

Today was the day she was going to look for a place to train. She needed to become stronger if she was ever going to be able to defend herself. She thought that lessons in self defense may even be useful in the profession that she was in. There were always guys hitting on her at the bar, thinking they were a gift for women from the Gods. So, this could come in handy if any of them were to overstep their welcome.

She thought about what it was going to be like to go back to work the day after tomorrow. She didn't know how to feel about it. She hadn't told Hot Pie or Gendry yet, and there was no way in the Seven Hells that she was going to tell Baelish about it. She knew he wasn't the kind of boss to do something about it; "I don't need to lose any valuable customers" is what she's sure he'd tell her. He reminded her of a weasel, and he was definitely someone that you shouldn't trust. The only reason she was even working for him was because he had known her mother since they were children together. She thought he would be a good place to turn after her parents died, when she was in search of employment. She had been right, but that didn't make him a good person.

She got out of bed and as soon as she stood up, she knew what she had to do. She needed to call one of her friends. She thought Hot Pie would be a better option to tell first, since she had a feeling as to how Gendry was going to feel about it. So, after getting dressed, she picked up her phone and dialed Hot Pie's number.

"Good morning, my favourite coworker." he greeted her with as he answered the phone. "Hey Pie, are you busy today? I was wondering if you'd want to come over, there's something I need to talk to you about." she told him. "Of course I'll come over! Is there something wrong?" he asked. "Yes and no. But I'd rather just wait until you get here to tell you." she replied. "Alright, I'll be there within the hour." he answered back. "Thanks Pie, see you soon." she said before she hung up the phone.

She grabbed her laptop off her dresser before she went downstairs. Since she was going to start to look for a gym, she thought it may be easier to use it instead of her phone. She gave herself one last look in the mirror, noting that her bruise was looking less purple and more yellow around the edges. She was happy with the improvement, and with that, she headed downstairs to await the arrival of her friend.

xxxxx

Sansa wasn't sure she was happy about the way the previous evening had turned out. She really thought that Arya quitting her job and eliminating the danger from the equation was the best option. However, she also knew that her younger sister was a very stubborn person and there was really no point in trying to convince her that any other option but her own was deserving of any merit. She could only hope that her sister did indeed learn something while she was training and that she would be safe. There was also a small part of her that regretted agreeing to this option because she thought her sister may even try to start fights purely because she thought she was stronger and tougher than everyone else. That sounded exactly like something that her sister was capable of doing. She supposed that she would just have to wait and see what the future held for the Stark family.

Today was a slow day for her. She didn't have many appointments today, so she was eagerly awaiting walk in appointments. In the meantime, she popped her head into Margery's room to see how she was finishing up the dragon tattoo that her white haired client wanted.

"I actually just finished!" she informed Sansa. "I just need to rub some Vaseline on her and wrap it up and she's good to go!" "It looks great Daenerys! I love the colours you chose." Sansa told the young woman as she got a good look at her shoulder. "Thanks Sansa." She said, appreciating the praise. Margery finished wrapping Dany's tattoo and gave her a package of after care and sent her on her way.

"So, Sansa Stark, what can I do for you?" Margery questioned with a smirk on her face. Sansa loved her friend. She would always remember the way that Margery took her under her wing when Sansa started at the shop, being able to apprentice under Tyrion Lannister was amazing, but she almost felt that the friendship she gained with her coworker was the best part of working at the Lion's Den. Sansa never bonded with her sister the way that she did with Margery, and now that her mother was gone, she was glad she had another woman to talk to.

"To be quite honest, I really just need some girl talk. I've been thinking about something lately and I was curious of an older woman's opinion on it." Sansa teased. Margery was only three years older than Sansa, but it was something they always loved to tease each other about. Sansa would ask for wisdom from an old woman and Margery would always tease Sansa by telling her about things she had done when 'she was her age'. Naturally it was all in good fun.

"But of course!" Margery said laughing. "What womanly wisdom may I stow upon you today?" she asked of her friend. "Please don't judge me; I'm not really in the mood to hear it." She told her before pausing. "But, I'm thinking about starting to date again." Immediately Sansa looked to the floor. She could feel the blush coming to her cheeks and this was not something that she wanted Margery to tease her about.

"Aw! Sansa! That's great! I'm so happy for you!" Margery practically screeched as she stood from her stool. She instantly wrapped Sansa in a hug. She was happy that her friend felt that she was strong enough to open her heart to trust someone again. "What brought this on?" she questioned Sansa. "I don't know. I just feel like that's what I need to do with my life right now. I feel like there's something missing and I think this might be it." Sansa answered. "Well that's good. Was there anyone in particular that you had in mind?" Margery said as she wiggled her eyebrows at her friend. "No. Where would I even meet anyone? I spend my time here, at Tormund's, or with my siblings. The only single men I know are Tormund, Theon and Pod, and none of them are really what I'm looking for." She told her. "No offence Pod!" She shouted to the next room, certain that Podrick had heard some, if not all, of their discussion. "None taken Sansa!" he hollered back. Both girls erupted into a fit of giggles. "Well Sansa," Margery started "you know what this means don't you?" "And what might that be my dear?" Sansa asked. "Girl's night out!" Margery exclaimed. Sansa groaned. She was really starting to think that she should have just kept her mouth shut.

xxxxx

It was lunch time at the boy's job site and Robb and Jon were discussing the events of last night. Jon felt more confident that Arya was able to handle this, but Robb wasn't sure that he agreed.

"This is something horrible, that we couldn't even imagine, Jon. Why do you think that Arya is going to be able to handle learning to fight after something like this?" Robb questioned in a louder voice than he intended. "Robb, you need to calm down. Arya is stronger than the three of us combined. She may not be physically, but she can handle this. I'm sure of it." Jon told him. Jon was never one for words, but when it came to Arya, he was a completely different person. With him and Robb being twins, one would have assumed that they were the closest of all the siblings, however, that wasn't the case. Jon and Arya were the closest siblings of the entire Stark family. It had been that way since Arya was born. Jon saw himself as her protector. He had even told her that over her crib the night she came home from the hospital. Jon didn't know, but Robb had heard him sneak into Arya's nursery that night. He stood at the door and watched as six year old Jon whispered to her that 'he promised he would always keep her safe'. Robb wasn't sure if Jon had possibly felt guilty over what happened, since he was the one to pick Arya up that night, but he knew, not to question his brother's judgment.

While the two brothers were discussing the recent events, one of their coworkers was looking at them closely. He wasn't trying to listen in on their conversation; Sandor was just trying to get a better look at their tattoos. He noticed that they both had plenty decorating their forearms and he could only assume they had more. He also recalled that the pretty redhead that had stopped by yesterday, had some too. He wondered if they had all gotten them done at the same shop. He had been thinking about getting a large piece done on his back for a while now, but he hadn't found a shop he felt comfortable at. Most people looked at the scars that covered the right side of his face and assumed he was a shady character, thus turning away his business.

He walked his hulking frame over to the boys and noticed that they looked at him with wide eyes. They had never spoken to this man before, and they were under the impression that he was a person who preferred to be left alone.

"Where did you get your wolves?" he barked at the twins. "I'm sorry?" Robb asked, confused as to what the large man wanted to know. "Your bloody wolf tattoos. Where did yah get them?" he asked, his tone seeming more aggressive. He was clearly someone who didn't enjoy conversation. "Lion's Den. Tyrion Lannister's shop. Our sister did them for us." Jon told him. "Was that the redheaded bird that was here yesterday?" Sandor questioned. "Hey! Don't talk about our sister like that!" Robb shouted as he rose quickly, looking up at the man, since he barely reached his coworkers shoulder. "I'll say whatever the fuck I want about whoever the fuck I want!" Sandor spat in Robb's face. Noticing the two workers in each other's faces, the site supervisor, Bronn Black, came over to prevent bloodshed.

"Alright boys. Lunch is over. Best we all be getting back to work now." he told the trio. With that, Sandor walked back to his truck to put his lunch away and went back to work, making plans to visit The Lion's Den tomorrow.

xxxxx

"Holy fuck Arya!" Hot Pie said after Arya finished telling him everything that happened. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Nothing broken. Just a bunch of bruises. So I guess you're still stuck with me." she answered, managing a small smile. "No Arya. This isn't something to jape about. Are _you_ okay?" he questioned. She had never seen him with such a serious look upon his face. "Not yet. But I will be." she told him with determination, grasping his hand and giving it a quick squeeze.

"I plan on finding a gym, where I can get stronger, and maybe take some self defense classes. I don't plan on letting anyone get that close to me for this to be able to happen again." she said. "Have you found a place yet?" he inquired. "No. I haven't even started looking. I was actually hoping you'd be able to keep me company as I looked. Maybe give an opinion or two." she told him with a smirk on her face. "I wouldn't know what to look for, but sure." he replied.

She brought out her laptop, immediately went to her favourite search engine and typed in 'Gyms in Westeros".

"What about this one?" she asked, clicking on the link to the Vanguard Training Facility website. "I don't think so Arya. It looks like it's more of a weightlifting gym. That's not really what we're looking for." he pointed out. "Fair enough." she said, as she went back to the search results page. "Oh this one looks promising!" she interjected after going to the website for Sunspear Studios. "Arya, this is a karate studio. You want to learn how to throw a punch, not how to become a ninja!" he told her, unable to contain his laugh. "Ugh! Fine!" she said, scowling. She scrolled down the page once more and clicked on the link to a gym with a very unusual name.

"The House of Black and White." she said, with a hint of curiosity in her voice. "It looks like your standard gym. What kind of classes do they have?" Hot Pie questioned. After some looking around, Arya found the page of classes offered at the House. "Hand to Hand Combat, Braavosi Water Dancing, Self Defense, Bladed Weapon Instruction. This place sounds amazing!" she exclaimed. "Well it looks like you've found what you're looking for!" he told her. He was happy to see the smile on her face, he was glad that she could still find some happiness after everything she'd be through.

"So when are you gonna check it out?" he asked. "Tomorrow, I think. I have the day off and I haven't been out of the house since it happened. Might as well start as soon as I can." she answered. "Glad to hear it. Sorry, but I have to get going, I'm meeting up with someone for coffee." he informed her. "Ooh, someone special?" she teased. "Someone who is none of your business!" he joked back as he was walking out of the kitchen. "Thanks for coming Hot Pie. It was good to be with a friend." she shouted to him before he walked out the door. "Anything for you She Wolf!" he yelled back before closing the door.

She turned back to her computer with a smile on her face. She had really enjoyed his company that afternoon.

Closing her laptop, she pondered what she was in for tomorrow when she entered The House of Black and White. "Only good things." she said aloud to herself, feeling as though she was in for something new and exciting in the very near future.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello Everyone! This chapter took me longer to write than I anticipated. I kept putting it off, worried that I wouldn't do the couples first conversations justice. But I sat down tonight and finished it. I'm happy with the result. It even turned out longer than I anticipated! My longest chapter yet, coming in at just under 3000 words!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Please Read and Review!

xoxo

* * *

Chapter Five:

It was after ten in the morning when Arya awoke, a smile on her face. She was very excited to see what The House of Black and White had in store for her. She didn't know what to expect, but she knew that it could only go up from here.

She thought it best to shower that morning, to make sure she could give the best first impression when she went to the gym for the first time. She quickly hopped out of bed, noticing that the pain in her ribs was turning more to a dull ache than actual pain. She smiled at the thought that this would soon be just a horrible memory.

She showered quicker than she normally would, skipping over shaving completely. She wasn't planning on starting her training today; she just wanted to check the gym out and possibly get a membership, if she ended up liking it. After getting out of the shower, she put on a clean bra and some clean underwear and went about blow drying her hair. She decided that keeping it down was the best decision, since she planned on riding her bike to the gym.

Once her hair was dry she went back to her room to pick out the clothes she thought would make the best first impression. She wanted the people at the gym to know that she was serious about what she wanted to learn from them. She thought black pants would look nice, so she picked out a pair of slim fitting black jeans. One of the only pairs she had that weren't ripped. She knew it was a little cool outside today, so she thought that a sweater would be best. Looking through her closet, she decided on her white pull-over cable knit sweater. Giving herself one last look over in the mirror, she thought about putting some make up over the bruise on her eye. Seeing as she was going to a gym and she was sure that they had seen their fair share of bruises, there was really no point. She grabbed her bike keys off her dresser, slipped into her black riding jacket, grabbed her helmet off the back of her door, and headed off to the garage to grab her bike.

She always loved the sound of her bike when it started. Lots of people liked their Harley's and their choppers, but Arya always loved the speed and handling of a street bike. When she brought home her black, Kawasaki Ninja, her brothers looked like they were going to kill her. They repeatedly told her how dangerous they were, and that they were sure she was going to end up hurting herself, if not worse. She never listened, and eventually they stopped trying to warn her. She had yet to crash her bike and she was more than confident that it wasn't going to happen. She looked at her phone one last time to memorize the address, turned her bike around and headed downtown to The House of Black and White.

xxxxx

Sansa was just bidding her last customer goodbye when a large, familiar looking man walked into the shop. She noticed he was so tall, that he had to duck when he walked in the door. The first thing she noticed about him, were the horrible scars that covered one side of his face. She blushed at the memory that this man had caught her staring at them just two days before. She waited beside Myrcella to learn what her brothers' coworker could possibly want at the Lion's Den.

"Hello…uh…ser. What can we…um…do…for you…today?" Myrcella managed to get out. Sansa struggled not to roll her eyes at her 17 year old coworker. She knew that the only reason she got the job here was because her uncle owned the shop. She was a good enough receptionist, but sometimes she acted younger than she was.

"I'm here to buy a bucket of chicken. What the fuck do yah think I'm here for? A tattoo obviously." He said to her, clearly unimpressed with the question. "Do you have an appointment?" Sansa asked, unsure why she even opened her mouth to this aggressive stranger. He turned to her and she thought she saw a look of surprise cross his face, but it was gone within a second. "Um…no, I don't. I wanted to look into making one." he told Sansa. "Well, what kind are you interested in? So I can point you to the right artist." Myrcella asked, apparently gaining her senses back. "Back piece. Black and white." he barked. "Well then you need Sansa here! Black and whites are her specialty!" Myrcella said, gesturing to Sansa, in a tone that was far too perky for a normal person to have. He turned and looked towards Sansa with an expectant look on his face.

"Right. Follow me." she told the large, angry man, as she gestured for him to follow her into her work room. "Please, take a seat." she said as she looked for her notebook.

She always took copious notes when she had someone coming in for a custom piece. She always wanted to make sure she had as much detail as possible. Once she found her notebook and her lucky pen, she sat on the stool across from the tattoo chair that her new client was now occupying.

"So, first off, my name is Sansa. What's yours?" she asked, trying to sound friendly. "Hound." he replied. "That's not a name." she blurted out, without thinking. "Well that's what they call me. That or dog." he said, with a smirk on his face. "Well, I don't know who _they_ are, but I'm not them. I'd prefer to call you by your actual name. It'll set me apart from everyone else." she told him, smiling. He seemed confused with the tone of conversation they were having. He wasn't use to anyone, let alone a beautiful woman, talking to him without staring at his hideous scars, or avoiding looking at him altogether, but Sansa seemed completely comfortable around him.

"You can call me Sandor, then." he said to her. She was pleased that he wasn't angry with her request to learn his name; she smiled at him and simply said "It's nice to meet you Sandor." Her parents had always raised her to have good manners and even though they weren't around any longer, she would always remember what they taught her.

"So what were you interested in getting? I know you mentioned that you wanted a back piece and you wanted it in black and white. Did you have any ideas of what you wanted it to be of or how much of your back you wanted it to cover?" she inquired, curious as to what this man, who seemed to radiate aggression, could possibly be interested in. The answer he gave surprised her.

"A woman. I want a woman." he told her.

"Umm…just a woman?" she asked, with a hint of nervousness in her voice, although she wasn't sure as to why. "No. A woman, and a dog or two." he told her. She had noticed the other tattoos he had visible in this moment. He had a snarling dog on one forearm, a pit-bull if she had to guess, and the words "WOOF WOOF" on his knuckles. She looked to his neck and saw that he had what looked like a thick chain, tattooed around his neck, a collar she was guessing. Dogs, most if not all his tattoos had something to do with dogs.

"Following a theme, are we?" she questioned, with a smirk on her face. She hoped she didn't offend him with this comment. She already knew, this was not the kind of man that you would want to make angry. He laughed then. A full deep laugh, which seemed more like a bark if she had to be quite honest. She smiled then, knowing that he wasn't angry with her for her remark.

"Yes girl. I live up to my name and these dogs are my pack." he informed her. He was looking Sansa over, trying to understand how she could possibly not be afraid of him. He was admiring her tattoos as well. He saw that she had pink ribbons tattooed on her calves, as if they were laced through her skin, ending in pretty pink bows. Following her long legs up, he could see what looked like the barrel of a gun on her right thigh, peeking out from under her shorts. He saw the blue, watercolor, wolf tattoo on her inner left forearm and the black lace piece with a large pink jewel, decorating the top of her right forearm. Finally, his eyes landed on the striking red bird she had flying on her neck. It was a cardinal, a northern bird. It was beautiful, just like the woman it was tattooed upon.

He remembered then her wolf tattoo, and the two boys from work that also had wolves. "So you're the sister of those twin idiots that work for Jaime Lannister?" he asked her. She laughed, and he wasn't sure that he had heard a better sound in the world. "That sounds exactly like Jon and Robb. Yes, they are indeed my older brothers." she answered. "You have your pack of dogs, and I have my pack of wolves." she told him, with a look of sadness suddenly on her face.

Quickly getting off the subject she asked if there was anything in particular that he wanted in his piece, as she looked back to her notes. "Maybe a skull, I guess. I don't fucking know. I'm no artist. I'm sure ye can figure something out." he told her. "Of course, when did you want to come in again?" she asked, looking up from under her lashes at him. He swallowed hard. "Friday." he said, silently cursing himself for answering so quickly. He thought he was starting to sound like some pathetic green boy. "If that's not too soon." he added. "No…it shouldn't be. I don't have anything big that I have to draw up anytime soon, so I should be able to get a couple drawings done by then." she told him.

"Alright. Can I go now? I need to get to work." he said, as he stood up from the chair. She noticed then how tall he really was. She was taller than most girls she knew, and he still came almost a full head taller than her. She got up then as well, only to realize how close they were standing. She attempted to back up and before she realized her stool was behind her, she bumped into it and started to lose her footing. She barely had time to fall backwards, when she suddenly felt large hands gripping her tightly, preventing her from falling. She gasped, raising her eyes to look into his. "Th-thank you, Ser." she stuttered out, unable to compose herself after their physical contact. She thought to herself that she was going to really need to work on that, if she was going to be tattooing this man. He quickly took his hands off her, as if she had burned him. "I ain't no Ser." he told her before walking out the door. She quickly followed him out to the front desk, and relayed all of the information of his forthcoming appointment to Myrcella, so that she could write his appointment into the shop calendar. Sansa copied all of the information for his appointment onto one of the shop cards that had her name on it, and she handed it to the man.

"So, I'll have a few drawings done that you can choose from and then hopefully we can get started on Friday." she told him, handing him his appointment card. He took the card from her then and walked to the door, pushing it open. Just before he walked out, he turned to her and said "See you Friday, Little Bird." He smirked at her and walked out the door. It wasn't until the door closed that she let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

xxxxx

When Arya arrived at The House of Black and White, she couldn't help but marvel at the sight of it. The building was beautiful. She could tell that it was very old, and it almost looked like it had previously been a sept of some sort.

She parked her bike in the parking lot that was across the street from the gym and walked towards the building's very large, wooden doors. She noticed that one was painted completely black and the other was completely white. She thought it was brilliant. She grasped the handle on the black door and pulled, thinking to herself that it was heavier than she had expected. She walked in and found herself in front of a large wall that was covered in mismatched planks of wood, and in front of that, a large, wooden counter that had a handsome man sitting behind it.

"Hello, and welcome to The House of Black and White. How can I be of service?" the handsome man said to her. "Hi…uh…I was looking at maybe joining your gym?" she said to him. "Certainly, what kind of membership were you interested in?" he asked her. "Uh…I don't really know what you offer. I just wanna gain some strength and maybe take some kind of self defense classes." she told him, hoping she didn't sound like the idiot she thought she did. He laughed. "Of course. It sounds like a gold membership would be perfect for you. It gives you unlimited access to all of the equipment we have, free access to all of the classes that we offer, and it includes sessions with one of our trainers. Does that sound alright to you?" he asked. "Sounds perfect." she replied.

After she paid for the membership, he rose from behind the desk. "If you'll just follow me this way I can take you on a tour of our facility." he said to her, gesturing to the doorway on his right, that obviously lead to the training areas.

As they walked into the training areas, he told her of the operating hours, upcoming classes and such. It was all in the welcome package he had handed her, so she didn't really pay attention to what he was saying. He stopped in front of her and allowed her to come to his side, so that she could see the rest of the gym. The moment she looked away from him, her eyes found a pair of deep, blue eyes that were looking into hers.

"Gods." she whispered to herself. For this was a pair of eyes she never thought she would possibly see again.

Pulling herself from the daze she was in, she noticed that this man, _Jaqen H'ghar_ , her brain told her, was coming over to her.

"Shit." she said, louder than she intended. This caused the handsome man beside her to notice and ask if she was alright. Before she could answer, Jaqen had reached them

"Hello girl. A man did not expect to see you again." he said to her, smiling. "Hello Jaqen." the handsome man said, "This is Arya Stark, she's just started a membership here with us at The House of Black and White." "A man has met a girl before." Jaqen informed him. Arya stood beside both men, unable to speak. There was an awkward silence among the three of them before the handsome man spoke again, "Well…we should be getting back to our tour. Arya?" he said, beginning to walk away from Jaqen. Arya's feet wouldn't move. Then, Jaqen spoke, "A man would be happy to show Arya Stark the noble House of Black and White." He bowed to her. 'What a strange thing to do.' she thought to herself. "That's really unnecessary, Jaqen, I can do it-" the handsome man said, before he was interrupted. "A man insists." he told him, smirking. Arya was beginning to grasp who had more authority here. "Fine." the handsome man said curtly, before turning on his heel and disappearing behind the wall once more.

"So, a girl seeks out a man from the House of Black and White." Jaqen said to her, pulling Arya out of her stupor. "N-no. I didn't come looking for you." she told him, "I want to get stronger and learn how to defend myself so this doesn't happen to me again." "A girl wants to learn to fight?" Jaqen asked her, clearly surprised. "I can do it, if that's what you're thinking. I'm tougher than I look!" she exclaimed, standing straighter. Jaqen laughed at her then.

"A man does not doubt that. If a girl wishes to learn, a man would be honoured to teach." he said, bowing again. 'What is with all this freaking formality?!' she thought to herself. He was a very strange man. "You really don't need to. I'll just take the classes that the House offers." she informed him, wanting to get away from this strange conversation."But a man is the best teacher in the House, wouldn't a girl wish to learn from the best?" he asked of her. "Well yes, but-" she said before he spoke again. "Then it's settled. A man will see a girl tomorrow for her first lesson." he said before bowing, one last time, turning and walking away from her.

'What in the Seven Hells just happened?' she asked herself.

She turned to leave, walking out the front door and across the street to her bike, she wondered if she should be scared or excited for what was coming tomorrow.

"Both" she said. Both were good.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone! Me again. Here's another chapter for you. We get to see Arya and Jaqen in their first session together, and we have the arrival of some Lannisters. It makes for some awkward situations all around. I think this chapter turned out pretty well. I hope you agree.

This story officially passed 200 views today, and I just wanted to say, how completely grateful and touched I am that so many people have looked at my story. I really hope that you all continue to enjoy it.

I own only the original plot points, none of the characters are mine. They will forever belong to Mr. Martin.

With that said, I present to you, Chapter six.

Please read and review!

xoxo

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Chapter Six:

Arya woke the next morning and practically jumped out of bed. She was very excited to go to her first lesson at the House of Black and White. The only thing that put a damper on her otherwise splendid morning was that she would be training with Jaqen H'ghar. There was something about the strange, red haired man that made her nervous. She didn't understand why he could possibly make her nervous; she had only just met him. Regardless of how she felt about her trainer, she was excited for this new time in her life.

She decided to wear a pair of black and white yoga capris, laughing to herself at the irony, and a red tank top. She thought that this would be good, for her first day. She could barely reign in her excitement as she got dressed and practically ran out the door.

When she first arrived at the gym, she said hello to the handsome man behind the desk, and went straight to the women's locker room to leave her bag and helmet in the locker that she was provided with yesterday. After leaving the locker room, she filled her water bottle at the fountain and realized that she hadn't actually arranged a meeting place with her teacher. She looked amongst all of the equipment and people within the House and tried to find Jaqen.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, and yelped at the sudden contact. She turned around to see who the hand belonged to, to find that it was Jaqen. She hadn't even heard him come up behind her.

"A girl has arrived for her first lesson. Is a girl ready?" he said to her. "Of course I'm ready! I'm here aren't I?" she told him. "Just so." he replied. As he guided her over to the large, matted training area, she suddenly blurted out, "Why do you talk like that?" She regretted it as soon as it left her lips. She thought it sounded like a horribly stupid question and she knew she shouldn't have asked.

"A man is from Lorath." he turned and said to her with a smile. She was slightly stunned by his casual response, she was sure that he would have been offended. She would have been, if someone asked her why she talked the way she did. It was a rude question. "Sorry. That was rude of me." she apologized. "A girl was curious. A man was not offended. A man is glad a girl wishes to learn more about her teacher, for that means that a girl wishes to learn." he told her. She was glad that this relationship seemed to be off to a good start.

When they arrived at the training area, he turned to her and spoke again, in a softer, quieter voice than he had originally been using. "A man is happy to see that Arya Stark is alright. A man was worried." he said to her, with a concerned look on his face. She was completely caught off guard. Why would this stranger care about if she was alright or not? Sure, he was the one who had rescued her, but he didn't even know her. Did this mean that he had been thinking about her? She shook the thought from her mind. She was very confused, and was unsure of how to respond. "Um…yea. Nothing was broken and the bruises are fading. So…I'm okay." she told him, managing a weak smile. Soon enough all of the physical reminders of that night would be gone. She knew that unfortunately the awful memories would remain.

"So, where did you want to get started?" she asked him, excited to learn what he was planning on teaching her today. "First a girl needs to stretch." he answered. "Fine." she replied, reluctantly.

Once he finished guiding her through her stretches, he spoke again; "A man wishes to learn where the girl stands physically." "Excuse me?" she said, wondering what that could possibly mean. He laughed at her. "Well that's mature." she muttered. "A man is sorry for laughing. A man only wished to learn how much a girl can handle." he told her. "Alright. Throw a punch! I'll show you what I got!" she replied, jumping into a fighting stance. He laughed again. "Stop laughing at me!" she yelled at him. "A man apologizes once more. A man should have been more clear. A man would like to see the distance and speed Arya Stark can run, and the weight she can lift." he replied. "I'm not even going to learn to fight?!" she remarked, clearly unhappy with the situation. "A girl must learn patience. The fighting will come."

He walked over to the row of treadmills and waited for her to follow. She sighed and stomped her way over to him. She could see Jaqen fighting back a smile. She rolled her eyes and hopped onto the treadmill in front of him. "Alright. Start me up." she told him. He turned the treadmill on and picked the settings for her, then pressed the start button. "A man will wait and watch." He said to her as he leaned against her machine. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes again, and started jogging on the treadmill.

After a half hour of running, Arya was covered in sweat and her legs had felt like they were buzzing. She was more than happy to get off the treadmill. She looked at him, panting. "Where…to…now?" she asked, in between breaths. "If a girl will follow me." he answered as he led her over to the weight rack. She grabbed a towel off of the stand on her way over, so that she could wipe her face and neck down. She had very quickly come to realize that she was more out of shape than she had originally thought. Once she stopped, she took a long drink from her water bottle.

Jaqen looked her over from head to toe. "What do you think you're doing?" she questioned. "A man is looking at a girl, trying to determine how much weight he believes she could lift. A man thinks 10 pounds would be sufficient to start." he stated. He grabbed two 10 pound dumbbells from the rack and handed them to her. "Does a girl know what a bicep curl is?" he asked. "Yes. I know what a bicep curl is. I'm not an idiot." she barked back. He let a laugh escape again. She scoffed. She was beginning to get very annoyed with her teacher. "A man did not assume that a girl was such. Please, begin." he replied, bowing ever so slightly. She began lifting the weights, alternating between each arm. She was impressed at how well she thought she was doing.

Twenty minutes later, she did not feel the same. She had managed 53 reps with each arm before she nearly dropped the weights.

"A man is impressed. A girl has surprised him." Jaqen said to her. "That is enough for today. A girl will return tomorrow to continue her training." "EXCUSE ME?!" she yelled at him. "I didn't even learn anything!" "Today was the day a man needed to learn. A girl will start tomorrow." he told her, with his signature smirk appearing on his face. He bowed one last time and walked away. She stood in the same spot, stunned. She was beginning to hate this man.

xxxxx

Sansa was busy working on one of the sketches for Sandor's appointment the next day, when Margery walked into her work room.

"So girl, we need to talk." Margery said, as she plopped onto Sansa's tattoo chair. Sansa put her pencil down and looked up from her sketch. "What about Marg?" Sansa asked. "Oh about nothing in particular. Maybe about that very tall, very angry looking man, that came in yesterday. What was that about?" Margery questioned. Sansa sighed. "He was simply a client that was looking to get a new tattoo. What more can I say?" she asked. "How could you bear to be in the same room as him? He was horrifying! Weren't you scared? He looked like he could have been in a biker gang or something!" Margery blurted out at a rapid pace. Sansa shook her head. "It was just someone looking for a tattoo! He was your average customer. Sure he was intimidating, I won't say that he wasn't, but, he was still just a customer." Sansa told her.

While he _was_ intimidating at first, Sansa quickly learned that she had no reason to feel that way. He seemed to be more of an awkward, shy man. He didn't seem to feel comfortable around her. She wondered if it was because she was a woman or if there was another reason behind it. She supposed she would learn more about the stranger, no, Sandor, tomorrow. Margery spoke again, bringing Sansa back into the present.

"So…what was he like?" she asked, smirking. Sansa rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand why this was such a big deal. "He was quiet actually. He didn't have much to say. He kept it very professional. There was one thing though." she told Margery. "What's that?" she inquired. "He wanted me to call him Hound. Apparently that's his nickname or something. What kind of name is that? Who would willingly call themselves that? It's horrible!" Sansa said to her. Margery smiled. "So I take it that that's not what you'll be calling him?" she teased. "Of course not! You know me better than to do something awful like that." Sansa stated. "So then what will you call him?" Margery asked. "Sandor." Sansa said, "His name is Sandor, so that's what I'll call him." Margery was unsure of what to make of the name. She said it aloud a few times before the girls heard the bell to the shop door ring, and someone yell "Sansa!"

Sansa recognized the voice immediately; she'd know her brother's voice anywhere. Sansa got off her stool and Margery quickly followed Sansa out to the front desk of the shop. Margery hadn't had much interaction with Sansa's older brothers. She knew which twin was which and that they both had girlfriends, but that was it. Well, almost it. She knew that Robb was one of the most handsome men she had ever laid her eyes on, but he had a girlfriend, so that meant he was off limits.

Sansa greeted her brother and his best friend, and her mechanic, Tormund Giantsbane. "Hey boys. Now what could you two possibly be doing here, bothering us lovely people, today?" she inquired. "The boss let everyone off early today, said that he had family business to attend to. So Tormund and I have been going around and hanging posters for this weekend's show." Robb told her. Sansa rolled her eyes. She loved her brothers, she really did, hells, she even loved Tormund, but she always thought that their band was ridiculous. It's not that the band was bad, they were actually very good, but she just laughed and called them a "Boy Band" every chance that she got.

"I don't know what you're complaining about She Wolf, you love to hear us play." Tormund teased her. It was true, she went to every show the boys had. It made her happy to see the boys so comfortable in front of people. Especially Jon, since he was so shy. It really brought them out of their comfort zones and it was truly a thing to behold.

She smirked at Tormund. "Yes, yes, I know all about your show this weekend. What does it have to do with the shop?" she asked them both. "Well…uh…we were kinda wondering if we could put a poster up in here to tell people about it? If that's alright." Robb said. While he was speaking, the bell chimed, signaling someone coming in the shop. "If that's alright? Of course it's alright! Any family of Sansa's is a family of mine." the group heard Sansa's boss, Tyrion Lannister say. They looked to the shorter gentleman only to notice that he wasn't alone. To his side was a tall, handsome, blond man. Robb naturally knew who this man was immediately, considering he worked for Jaime Lannister's company. The girls both exchanged smiles; they each knew what the other was thinking. Jaime Lannister was the most handsome man that either of them knew, and it was a real treat when he visited his brother in the Lion's Den.

"I let you off early today young Stark, and this is what you do with your time? Harass these beautiful young women, and promote your band? I would have assumed that you would have done something a little more productive with your time." he teased Robb, while winking at the girls. It took all they had in them, not to swoon at the sight. Robb looked to the floor as a tinge of red stained his cheeks. Seeing how uncomfortable Sansa's brother was, Tyrion spoke up. "Oh Jaime, don't scare the man! What he wants to do with his spare time is completely up to him." he said, elbowing his older brother in the ribs. "But, we should leave all these nice people to their own lives and go to my office to discuss more important matters." Tyrion continued, before nodding to the group and heading to his office, with Jaime right behind him.

Margery took this moment to speak up. "Of course we'll hang the poster up! We'd love to help get more people to your show Robb." she said, with her sweetest smile. "Thank you Margery." Robb said, winking at Sansa's coworker. Sansa had to do a double take, for she was confused as to what had just transpired. She knew that her brother and his ex-girlfriend, Talisa, had broken up a couple of months ago, but really? He was going to make a move on her best friend? She looked from Margery to Robb, wondering what was going to become of this. She could only hope that neither of the people she loved most in this world would end up getting hurt.

xxxxx

Arya made it home later than she anticipated. She had to quickly shower, to get the pungent sweat smell off of her, before she headed in to work that evening. It was her first day back since the attack, and she had her reservations. She knew that Gendry wasn't working, it would be just her and Hot Pie, so that made her feel slightly better.

Once she climbed out of the shower, she dressed in a pair of jeans and her skeletal print, muscle shirt. She dried her hair and debated on applying some makeup to her face. She wasn't one for wearing makeup; she wasn't even sure why she owned it. She eventually decided that a little foundation couldn't hurt. The bruises on her wrists had faded completely, so she didn't need to worry about them. The bruise on her eye however, was a different story. It was still quite prominent so she covered it the best she could. She didn't look completely like herself, but it was an improvement.

She looked over herself once more, before grabbing her things and heading to The Harren Hall.

Nine hours later, the last customer had just walked out the door when she turned to Hot Pie and said, "That wasn't as bad as I expected." "You stopped jumping at the loud voices pretty quickly, and fell back into your routine soon after. I think you did very well." he told her, coming over to give her a hug. "Oiy! Get off me!" she yelled at him, feeling him laughing around her. "So, how was your first day at the House of Black and White? I know you mentioned earlier that you went, but then we got really busy and I didn't get to hear the rest." he said. "Gods. I didn't even get to learn anything! He just tortured me today. He made me run on a treadmill for half an hour, and then made me lift weights until I couldn't feel my arms! They're still fucking sore!" she commented. "Oh, so your trainer is a he?" Hot Pie asked. "Shit." she said. "I forgot to mention that. My trainer, is the guy that saved me in the alley. How fucking insane is that?" "Holy shit!" he replied. "That's quite the fucking coincidence." "No kidding." she said back.

They finished cleaning the tables, and while Hot Pie swept, Arya wiped down the bar top. Once they were finished cleaning, Hot Pie had grabbed the garbage and was about to walk out the door, when Arya stopped him.

"Pie…"she said, in almost a whisper. "Yea Arya?" he asked. "Would you…would you mind waiting, and maybe…be willing to walk me to my bike? I just…I just don't feel comfortable walking in the alley alone at night anymore." she told him, looking at the floor so he couldn't see the tears that had started to form in her eyes. "Oh Arya." he said, a look of sadness coming to his face, "Of course I will." "Thanks Pie." she said. She was glad that, even though she was moving on from what happened, she still had someone to turn to if she needed them.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello readers. Here is chapter seven for you. Arya is back at the gym, and Jaqen is learning a little more about her. Sandor arrives for his first appointment, and he and Sansa have a moment or two :)

This chapter ends sort of abruptly. I realized about half way through, that this chapter was going to be far too long if I kept going. Therefore, I ended it where I did, and will hopefully post another chapter before the morning comes. The next chapter will start right where this one leaves off.

I only own the plot and anything that sounds original. Anything you've heard before, belongs to George R R Martin.

Thanks guys!

Please read and review!

xoxo

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Chapter Seven:

Arya groaned as she opened her eyes, that Friday morning. Her legs and arms were very sore, and she really didn't feel like getting out of bed. "Stupid Lorathi." she said to herself, as she shook her head. She knew though, that she would have to get out of bed eventually. She had to go to her first lesson in self defense. Hopefully today, he would actually let her hit something.

As she climbed out of bed, she thought back to the previous day. She wondered why Jaqen had been so worried about her. Sure, he did save her from a horrible situation, but surely he didn't think he would see her again. How much would someone think about someone that they didn't know, regardless of the situation? She wasn't sure how to feel about it, but she knew she had to put it out of her head, and focus on the physical aspect of her training, and not on her trainer.

She changed into a clean set of workout clothes, put her hair in a ponytail and soon enough she was out the door.

When she arrived at the House of Black and White, she found Jaqen immediately. He had been spotting for a young man, probably about her age, as he was bench pressing what looked like a large amount of weight. Jaqen smiled at her, to acknowledge that he did indeed see her, and helped the young man place the bar back on its rests. He said a few words to the young man, clapped him on the back, and made his way over to where Arya was standing.

"Good morning Arya Stark. How is a girl feeling today?" he said to Arya, bowing. It took all she had in her, not to roll her eyes at him. "I'm sore." she answered, "But you knew that already." He smiled at her when she spoke. "Yes. A man knew that was to be expected." he said to her. "So, what are we doing today?" Arya asked her trainer. "A man thought Arya Stark should learn how to throw a punch." he replied, as he began to lead her to the matted training area. "I know how to throw a punch, thank you very much." She told him, offended that he thought so little of her. "Could a girl demonstrate?" he asked of her. She stood in front of him and threw her left fist out in a punch. She smirked at him then. "See. A perfect punch." she said, proud of herself. Jaqen's lips became a straight line. "A girl's form needs work. And a girl could hurt herself if not taught how to throw a punch safely." he said simply. He grabbed her waist after he finished speaking.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, when he put his hands on her. "Does a girl not wish to learn how to fight? A man was simply showing a girl the proper stance." he said, looking down at her. "Well…you could have warned me." she said, as she narrowed her eyes at the Lorathi. He smiled then and asked, "Should a man always tell a girl when he wishes to put his hands on her?" He was clearly amused by this situation. She didn't understand why, but for some reason, his comment and smile, brought a flush to her cheeks and a strange sensation to the bottom of her stomach. "Well…no. But, this time would have been nice." she said, unsure if she actually meant the words. "A man apologizes. May a man place Arya Stark into the correct stance?" he asked her. She nodded, unable to come up with a smart comment to reply with.

He put his hands on her hips once more, and this resulted in a quiet gasp to, involuntarily, escape her lips. She prayed to the gods that he hadn't heard. He had heard her, but he didn't let her know that he had. Her reaction caused him to smile, though he wasn't sure why, he just knew that he liked the sound.

Once he turned her body, to stand in an almost side facing position, he grabbed her arms and raised them so her fists were at the level of her eyes. "This is where a girls' fists should be when ready to fight." he told her, grabbing her fists to emphasize the point. "Would a girl please throw another punch?" he asked her, stepping back to get in a better position to observe. She did as he asked, while he stood back, watching her carefully. "Again." he said. "Continue until a man says otherwise." He began to walk around her as she threw her punches.

"A man will put his hands on Arya Stark once more." he informed her, before he place one hand on her stomach, while placing the other on her lower back. "You don't have to tell me every time, you know." she told him, turning her head to glare at her teacher. He laughed again. He seemed to enjoy laughing at her. "A man was just being thorough." he replied. "A girl needs to stand straight. Her punches have to come from her core and not her arms." he said, while slightly pushing on her stomach to clarify. She straightened her back at his words. "Better." he said.

He continued to walk around her for the next 10 minutes before stopping her to ask her to shift her position, so she could start to use her right arm instead. It took a little adjusting, but she got the hang of it fairly quickly. "So, a man has met a girls' brother. Is he the only sibling a girl has?" Jaqen asked her, as he stopped his circling. Arya spoke between her punches. "No. I have two older brothers and an older sister." she told him. "And what of a girls' parents?" he inquired. She stopped then. "My…my parents died. Them, and my two little brothers." she informed him, looking down, with an ache striking her heart. "A man is sorry. He did not mean to upset Arya Stark." he said, with a regretful look appearing on his face. "No, its fine. It happened a couple of years ago. Just sometimes, when I think of them, it still hurts. You know?" she said. "A man understands." he answered. "A man thinks it would be a good time for a water break." He said to her, sitting down on the mat. She followed suit, grabbing her bottle and taking a long drink.

"So, I never did thank you for what you did. Saving me, I mean." Arya turned to Jaqen saying. "It was nothing. A man was glad to have been walking by." he said to her, nodding once. "But, you could have just kept walking. Anybody else would have." She said, before asking, "Why _did_ you stop?" "A man simply knew he had to." was all he said, as he reached up to touch the bruises on her eye, she shuddered at the contact. "A man is glad that Arya Stark is going to be okay." he told her, removing his hand. She was quiet for a moment, unable to respond. After what felt like a life time, she spoke. "Yea, I'll get there." she told him, smiling weakly. "Just so." he said, standing and offering her his hand, so she could also get up. "We should begin again." he told her, allowing her to get into position. Arya was glad to continue, if only to focus her mind on something else.

xxxxx

Sansa had just finished taking out her inks and arranging her station the way she preferred it, when she heard her newest client's booming voice, announcing his presence to the shop. She went to her work room door, to call him into her room, only to nearly bump into the man. "Sorry!" she said, backing away from Sandor, while trying to avoid making eye contact. She was usually such a composed person, and she couldn't understand why she was so clumsy around this man.

Sandor sat on the tattoo chair, and Sansa went to grab the two sketches from the counter, so they could discuss the tattoo.

"So, these are the sketches I designed. If you like one of them, we could start today. If there was something about them you didn't like, we could change it, or if you don't like either of them, I can start fresh." she told him as she handed him both sketches. He couldn't help his eyes from widening, as he looked at both drawings. They were both beautiful. He couldn't begin to understand, how she managed to do these amazing pieces, in only two days. He would never be capable of creating anything, even half as beautiful, as these. He knew he was going to have a hard time deciding.

He looked at the one his left hand held first. The woman was beautiful, far more beautiful than he ever deserved. She was looking to the left; he saw that she had tattoos on her neck and hand, and her hair in a braid that went down the opposite side of her neck. Beneath her were two hounds, much in the style of the pit-bull on his forearm, looking in both directions. Underneath the hounds, was a single rose, pure and untouched. Surrounding the entire work, was a filigree frame. Sandor loved it, but he felt that there was something missing.

He then shifted his attention to the sketch in his right hand, and the second he looked at it, he knew this was the one. There was a hound on the left, with its teeth bared, snarling. On the right was a wolf. He didn't ask for a wolf, but he knew there was no way he could part with it now. It was amazing. In the centre, the main focus of the tattoo, was his woman, clutching a skull. She was looking down at the skull. She had a smile on her face, as if she had just been victorious in battle. Her hair was flying wildly around her face, as if it wasn't hair at all. If it had been red, you could have said it was fire. It was then that he realized, he had seen this face before. It belonged to the woman, who was kissed by fire, standing in front of him. Did she realize that the face she had drawn was her own? He certainly wasn't going to call attention to it. If he could have a woman as beautiful as her on his body, in any way, he would take it.

"They're both…they're both beautiful." he told her, having trouble getting the words out. She looked at the floor then, so he wouldn't see her blushing. "Thank you." she responded. "Was there one you liked more than the other?" "Umm…yea, I'll take this one." he answered, handing her the drawing that was in his right hand. "Is there anything you wanted to change? Anything to add?" she asked. "It's perfect." he answered. She couldn't help the blush from forming on her cheeks again, she had never had someone react to her work the way that this man had. It gave her a strange feeling in her stomach, one could even call it butterflies.

"How is the size?" she asked. The sketch was around 14 inches wide and about 17 inches tall, she guessed when she saw his size initially, that this would be a nice fit for him. "The size is great." he told her. "Can we get started?" "Of course! I'll just go print this out and I'll be right back. If you wanna take your shirt off and take a seat we can get right to work." she told him, walking out the door.

"Alright, I just need to shave…you" she said walking back in the room, the last word coming out in barely a whisper. She had never seen a man with a body like this. She should have known by looking at him, that he would surely be very muscular. She had really underestimated what was underneath his shirt. He was heavily muscled. He had more muscles than Sansa thought a man could have. They suited him very well. She wondered to herself, what a body like his, could be capable of. She flushed at the thought. He noticed.

"What? Never seen a man before, Little Bird?" he asked her, laughing. This brought her attention back to the task at hand. "Of course I have." she answered, clearly not amused that he had been laughing at her. "I just haven't seen someone so hairy before! You're practically a beast." she quipped, smiling at the man. 'There, let's see what he has to say about that!' she thought to herself, proud of her witty response. He looked at her, with a mask of fake shock on his face. He clutched his hands to his chest, in the area over his heart and said, "You wound me Little Bird!" clearly amused with her jape. She was glad to see that he wasn't offended. She did not want to see this man's temper.

She smiled at him and got a fresh razor and some shave gel out of the cupboard. "Could you please straddle the chair? I think that'll be the most comfortable for you, we're gonna be at this for a while." she asked him. "Oh, is _that_ what ye want me straddle?" he asked her, leaning towards her, with a smile on his face. She was speechless. She had just met this man, and he was already making jokes like this? She knew she was in for a long afternoon.

"I…um…I…"she stuttered. "Oh, don't get yer panties in a bunch. It was just a joke." he said, turning in the seat, so that he could lean forward against the backrest of the chair. She shook her head at the man, now that his back was turned, and looked up to the heavens above, praying for the patience to deal with this man today. Once the area on his back was completely shaved, she laid the stencil, and asked him to look in the mirror she had on the wall, to see if the positioning was alright. He was happy with its location, so he sat back down, straddling the chair. "Well then, here we go." she told him. She pressed her foot pedal down, dipped her gun in the black in, and began what was going to be a very interesting experience.


	8. Chapter 8

Alright, alright. I know I said I would have uploaded this by morning and I didn't. Don't hate me. My hubby decided to take me on an early morning trip to Denny's, so my mind was literally elsewhere. This is what I would call the second half of chapter seven. We get more of Sansa and Sandor together, and Gendry finally finds out about the attack.

The next chapter is gonna have some girl talk between Sansa and Margery, and probably a scene or two with the boys before their show. I will also have a scene with Arya and Jaqen at the gym. So, look forward to that. :)

As always, George R R Martin owns the characters, only the plot is mine.

Please read and Review!

Thanks everyone

xoxo

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Chapter Eight:

"So, you work with my brothers, for Jaime Lannister. What's that like?" Sansa asked Sandor, as she began his outline. "Lannister is a good enough boss. Never had a problem with him." he told her. "And my brothers? What are they like?" she questioned. "Can't say. Don't talk to anyone else if I don't have to. First time I spoke to them was to ask about their wolves." he answered. "And now you're here." she said. "And now I'm here." he reiterated. She wondered why he didn't like to talk to anyone else, he seemed like a nice enough person to her. She thought for a few minutes about asking him why he chose to work alone, and decided that it seemed like a safe enough question. She felt she needed to tread lightly however; she didn't need to offend him at the beginning of this appointment.

"So…if you don't mind me asking, why _do_ you avoid talking to everyone else?" she asked. He laughed then, his large body shaking underneath her hands. "Girl, it's not that I avoid people. People avoid me." he told her. "Why? You seem like a nice guy. Why would they avoid you?" she wondered aloud. He scoffed at her question. "Ye really need to ask that? Are ye stupid?" She was slightly put out by his response, but she pushed him to answer her question. "Obviously I needed to ask, otherwise I wouldn't have." she said back, "And no. I'm not stupid, thank you." He laughed then. "Aye. If you're not stupid, then you're naïve." he responded. "I'm sorry, but you still haven't answered my question. Why would people avoid you? It can't possibly be your sunny disposition!" she teased.

He was quiet then. It was a few minutes before he spoke up again. "It's my face. They want to avoid my face." he said, in a voice that was quiet, but still very angry. She quickly grasped, that this was a sensitive subject. She felt horrible for asking. Obviously she had seen his scars; everyone who had ever been around Sandor would have seen them. But they were just scars, and she was sure he hadn't asked for them to be there. They looked like burns, so she guessed that there had been some sort of accident involving fire. She wanted to say something to him to change the subject, to turn it to something a little more light hearted. She thought for a moment, before she came up with the perfect response.

"Really? I would have assumed it was your hair! You really do need to do something about it. It's horrible." she informed him. She felt him shake underneath her hands again, laughing, even though she may not be able to hear it. This brought a smile to her face. She was glad that his mood had shifted, and she could feel the tension disappearing from the room. "What's wrong with my hair?!" he asked. "Well, there is an awful lot of it. Are you truly asking my opinion?" she said. "Aye." "Well, if you don't mind me saying, I can see that you have a part of your scalp where the hair doesn't grow. So instead of keeping it long and covering it the best you can, why not emphasize it?" she told him. "And what would you have in mind, Little Bird?" he questioned. "Well, I would say shave the sides and back completely and cut the top. Not short, but shorter than now. Maybe til it was a few inches long, and then sweep it back." she said. She had seen men with this hairstyle before, and she thought it would suit Sandor nicely.

He turned to look at her then, forcing her to take her gun away from his shoulder blades. "A hipster! Ye want me to look like a fuckin' hipster?!" he barked at her. She rolled her eyes at him. "No. I don't think you'd look like a hipster. Have you ever seen that show 'Vikings'?" she asked him. "Aye." he said nodding, as he turned his head forward once more. "I was thinking more along those lines. More the look of a warrior." she said, before muttering, "You certainly look like one." She thought she had said it quietly, and that, over the noise of her machine, he wouldn't have heard her. She was wrong.

"Ye think I look like a warrior, do ye?" he teased. Shit, she thought to herself, turning as red as the walls of the shop. He obviously wasn't supposed to hear that, and now she had to figure out how to answer that question. "Um…maybe?" she said, regretting it as soon as it left her lips. 'Wow. What an intelligent response.' she thought to herself. If she didn't have her tattoo gun in her hand she would have smacked herself in the forehead. Sandor wasn't going to say how much he enjoyed her answer, so he decided that he would just smile and keep it to himself.

They took a snack break, having just finished the first hour of his tattoo. Sansa got off of her stool after she finished her granola bar, and stretched one last time, knowing she was going to be hunched over for at least another hour and a half. As she raised her arms in the air, her white, lace back camisole raised, to reveal a portion of her slim stomach. Sandor couldn't take his eyes off her. He noticed another tattoo that he had, obviously, not seen yet. From what he could see peaking out of her light wash, skinny jeans, it looked like blue roses. He noted that these roses had plenty of thorns around them. Any rose tattoo he had ever seen before had never had the thorns included. He wondered why Sansa chose to include them.

"Does that lead to your rose garden?" he asked Sansa, smiling wide. She quickly pulled her shirt back down, to cover her roses. "No!" she nearly shouted, as Sandor began to laugh across from her. "Why the thorns? And why such a painful place?" he asked, curious if there was a special meaning behind them. She hesitated before answering. "They're…um…they cover some scars." she eventually admitted. Sandor didn't like the look that came on her face. "What happened?" he asked, as he got back into position, noticing that Sansa was making her way back to her stool. "Something…something I'd rather not talk about, if that's alright." she told him. He could hear the pain in her voice, not wanting to make it any worse, he said "Of course, Little Bird."

That sparked her memory. She had been meaning to ask him why he continued to call her that, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. "Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked him. She heard him laugh again. "Your tattoo, Little Bird. How could I not call you that?" he teased. She rolled her eyes at him. "You know, cardinals are a songbird, Little Bird. Do you sing too?" he inquired. This was something she didn't care to admit to people, but she did sing. She thought she was rather good. She hadn't actually done it in front of anyone before, so she wouldn't really know. "I do. But don't tell anyone. No one knows. It'll be just our little secret." she said to him, as she poked him in the ribs.

"Well, this I have to hear!" he exclaimed. "NO! Absolutely not!" she told him, far louder than she meant to. "I mean…no, I've never done it before in front of anyone. I literally mean no one. I'm absolutely not ready to do that." she said, in a calmer voice. He laughed at her again. "Fine. But one day Little Bird, you'll sing for me." he declared.

"So tell me, do you have any other siblings?" Sandor asked. "Well you know that I have my two older brothers, but I also have a younger sister, and…" she paused, "and that's it." He could hear the shift in her voice. She had _seemed_ like she was in a good mood, but he could hear that it had changed. "What's wrong, Little Bird?" he questioned. "It's nothing. It's long since passed. I'm fine." she answered, though he could very clearly hear that she was not. "No you're not." he said, turning around in his seat. "Sandor! I-" she exclaimed before he cut her off. "Tell me what it is. What happened?" he asked. "It's just…well I also had two younger brothers." she answered, with her eyes looking at the floor. "Had?" he asked. "They…they died. Two years ago. A car crash. My parents too." she told him, wiping a tear from her eye.

'Fuck' he thought to himself. She had clearly been through some pretty rough shit, and he just dragged it all back up. "I'm sorry Sansa." he said, and he truly was. If he had had any idea, he wouldn't have brought it up. "I've lost a sibling too. I know what that's like" he told her. His sister had died in the same fire that scarred his face. His older brother, Gregor, had caused it. He said he was just playing around with the matches, but Sandor knew better. "I'm so sorry Sandor. That's awful." she said. "Aye, but that's long passed." he replied, "But let's get back to work."

xxxxx

Arya had just finished her session for the day. Jaqen had even let her hit a sandbag at the end, so she could feel what it was like to make contact. He was walking her to the locker room, so she could grab her things before headed home to shower before work.

"A girl will be running and lifting tomorrow." Jaqen informed her. "Do I really have to? Why can't you just keep teaching me to fight?" she whined. He smiled at her and said, "A girl wished to become stronger, and this is the only way she can achieve that." "I guess I did say that. But don't expect me to enjoy it." she told him. "Just so." he answered. "Until tomorrow, Arya Stark." he said, before bowing and walking away. She rolled her eyes, as she walked into the locker room to grab her things.

As she climbed into the shower, she thought about the way her body reacted when Jaqen had touched her. It almost felt like he had shocked her. It was as if there was electricity flowing through her body, when he touched her. It wasn't something she had ever experienced before. She shook the thought from her head, and shut the water off so that she could get ready for work. Today was the first day she would see Gendry since it happened. She wasn't excited for the outcome that she knew was inevitably coming. She didn't bother to hide the quickly disappearing black eye, Gendry would flip out regardless.

When she got to work, the bar was empty, so she thought that she should get it over and done with, as soon as possible. Rip the band-aid off, so to speak.

"Gendry…can I talk to you before we start working?" she asked him, walking around the bar. "Sure Arya." he said, putting the cloth that he had been using to wipe the bar top off down. "Holy shit, what happened to your eye?!" he exclaimed. "There was an…incident…on Sunday. After I left work." she told him, avoiding his eye. "An incident? What do you mean, 'an incident'?" he asked, "Did someone hit you?" "Yea…that. Among other things." She told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, in a tone more serious than his last. She couldn't say the words. Gendry knew from her lack of words, that this was something horrible. "Arya…no!" he yelled, grabbing a glass from the bar and smashing it on the floor. The anger in his voice and the sound of the glass hitting the floor cause her to flinch. When he grabbed her arms, she couldn't help but let out a small yelp.

"Gods Arya! Someone raped you?!" he screamed in her face. She flinched again. "No, Gendry. It…it didn't get that far." "Thank the gods!" he said, as he pulled her into his arms. The tears were flowing freely down her face, and she did nothing to stop them. No one had held her since it happened, and she was happy to feel the comfort. They stood behind the bar like that for what felt like hours. Her tears had stopped, when he asked "You said…you said it didn't get 'that far'. What does that mean?" She paled when she heard the question. When he looked at her, and saw her reaction, he realized his mistake. "Shit. No! That's not what I meant!" he said, dragging a hand over his face. "I meant…why. Why didn't it get that far?" he clarified.

"Oh." she said, "Someone…someone heard and stopped it." "Someone stopped it? Do you know who?" he inquired. "Actually, I do." she answered, managing a small smile. "I've decided to start training at a gym. And I'm taking self defense lessons." she told him, proudly. "Okay…but what does that have to do with who stopped it?" he questioned. "The man who saved me, he's my instructor at the gym." she answered, smiling widely this time. "Well, that's interesting. Who would have seen that coming." he remarked.

She was glad to have gotten this conversation out of the way. She didn't like the way Gendry had been looking at her, for the rest of their shift. It was as if he thought she was going to fall apart or something. She knew he would get past it eventually, but it was still annoying to deal with, in the meantime. She thought back to her training today. She could really see herself taking something away from this experience, and she was happy with the decision that she had made. She wasn't excited to go back on the treadmill tomorrow. She groaned. Her legs hurt now just thinking about it. But there _was_ something good about tomorrow. She would see Jaqen again. She didn't understand why, but that thought, made it feel like it was all worth it.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone. I know it's been longer than usual since I updated. There was a combination of things that got in the way. The worst being a very bad ice storm that passed through my area, causing my small town to lose power for a while. Everything is back to normal now. This is part one of the concert chapter. I hope to write and upload the second half before the weekend.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy.

Please Read and Review!

xoxo

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Chapter Nine:

When Arya woke that Saturday morning, she looked forward to her day. She was going to go to the House to get some training in and then she had work that night. She would also get to see her brothers perform tonight. She loved the boys' music and, if she was being honest, the crowds also brought in good tips.

Hopping out of bed, and changing into her workout gear, she grabbed her things and she was out the door. She wasn't sure why she was so excited to see Jaqen at the House today, sure, he was a nice guy and she was sure he was a competent trainer, but there was just something about him that made her want to see him again.

When she arrived at the House of Black and White, she didn't see Jaqen immediately so she made her way to the training mats to begin her stretches. While she had some time to kill she took a look around the rest of the House. She noticed that the other members of the House were of varying ages and races. She also noticed that there was only one other woman in the gym. She was busy thinking this over, when Jaqen walked up to her.

"Good morning, Arya Stark." Jaqen said greeting her, "How is a girl today?" "I'm good. How are you?" she countered. "A man is well." he replied. "So, it's back to the treadmill today?" she asked him. "Indeed." he answered.

They made their way over to the row of treadmills and Jaqen programmed Arya's machine for her, then stepped onto the machine to her right and pushed the same settings. "You're running with me?" she questioned, surprised to see him climbing on to the machine. "A man cannot let Arya Stark have all the fun." he told her with a wink. She felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and she quickly turned forward, to look out the window.

"The city really is beautiful." she remarked. It truly was. From their location they could see some of the biggest landmarks in the city. Far to the left, they could see the large tower of the King's Landing Hotel, owned by Cersei Lannister, since the death of her husband, and Arya's father's best friend, Robert Baratheon. She never liked the hotel; it was far too stuck up for her tastes. Looking straight forward she could just make out The Wall, off in the distance. It was one of her favourite places in all of Westeros to visit. She had only been once, but she loved the towering structure. It had been used as a border to their city, hundreds of years before. Now it almost looked like crumbling ruins, but Arya always found beauty in the structure.

"Has a girl returned to work?" Jaqen asked from her right. This pulled her out of her thoughts. "Yes, actually. I've had two shifts this week. I have to go to work tonight too." she informed him. "And a girl is alright?" he asked her, with a look of concern upon his face. "I am actually. I've got some good coworkers who make it better." she answered, actually managing a genuine smile.

"Would Arya Stark tell a man about these coworkers?" Jaqen questioned. "Why?" she asked back. "A man is simply trying to learn more about a girl." he explained. "Oh…okay." she said.

"Well there's really only the two of them." she started, "One's name is Hot Pie. He's gay. Definitely one of the best people you could ever know. He bakes, that's why we call him Hot Pie…actually I don't even know what his real name is." She burst out laughing. She just realized she had known her friend for over a year, and she had absolutely no idea what his name was. Everyone had only ever called him Hot Pie, or even just Pie. Even Baelish called him that.

Once she had stopped laughing, she spoke again. "Then there's Gendry." What could she say about Gendry? Was he her friend? Were they more than that? They certainly weren't dating, but they had spent s _ome_ nights together, so what did that mean? "Gendry…he's a great guy. He's funny, and loyal to a fault. He'd give you the shirt off his back if you asked. He's really protective of his own too." She smiled as she thought of him. She knew then, they weren't dating, and she's sure they never would. He was just an extension of her family. He was her best friend.

"And a girl loves this boy?" Jaqen asked, his tone sounding strange. If she had to put a feeling on it, Arya would almost say that he sounded upset. But that couldn't be true, they had just met. She dismissed the thought quickly.

"I do." she told him, smiling. He looked away from her then, staring forward. She continued, "He's like another brother to me. He'll always be there for me if I need him. Sure, I could talk to Jon, but sometimes…sometimes I just need a friend."

She noticed that, while he was still looking forward, a smile crept onto his face. This sight brought one to hers as well.

xxxxx

Sansa and Margery had just arrived at the Dorne Shopping Centre and were walking to grab some coffee, when Margery asked Sansa about the tall, dark, stranger from the day before.

"So yesterday was your first session with him. What was it like? Was he mean?" she asked. Sansa couldn't help but roll her eyes. She couldn't understand why everyone would just assume the worst about Sandor. She knew that his appearance gave him an aggressive look, but they seemed to dismiss him without a chance.

"It was a tattoo session. What more do you want me to say?" she asked her friend, as they arrived at the coffee shop. After Margery handed Sansa her drink, she spoke again. "Well I don't know. Just tell me what you talked about."

"Well first we talked about the boys. I never really knew what they were like at work." she told her, "And he didn't have much to say. He told me they don't talk to him. He said that the first time he had ever even spoken to them was to ask about their tattoos." she said. "Although," she continued, starting to giggle, "he did call them idiots during his consultation. _That's_ not surprising at all!" she said. This caused both of the girls to laugh. "Yea, I can understand that." Margery replied.

They walked into a popular young adult clothing store, and stopped at a rack of skinny jeans. "So we're here to get something cute to wear to the show tonight?" Sansa asked. "Obviously! I told you that you needed a girl's night, and tonight is the perfect occasion. There should be a lot of guys at the show, and I wanna make sure that we're the hottest girls there!" Margery told her. "Is there anyone that you're trying to look hot _for_?" Sansa teased. "NO!" Margery said quickly, as she accidentally knocked a pair of jeans off the rack.

Sansa laughed quietly to herself. She knew that there was in fact someone, but she would let Marg tell her in her own time.

"What about this?" Margery asked, selecting a pink, flowered, romper off a shelf and presenting it to Sansa. "Margery. Are you kidding me? This is a rock concert, at a dive bar. I would stick out like a sore thumb!" she told her friend. "But Sansa!" she whined, "It's so cute!" "Then _you_ buy it." Sansa replied. "Ugh! Fine." Margery responded, turning around and folding the romper, before placing it back on the shelf.

"What about this for you?" Sansa asked, as she pulled a black tee off the rack in front of her. "Sansa, that's just a plain black tee." Margery remarked. "I'm offended you think so little of me." Sansa said, scoffing as she turned the tee around. Margery's eyes widened with delight, for when Sansa turned the shirt around, Margery got a good look at the back. The back had multiple cutouts all over it, and they were cut into the shape of a skull. "Sansa, it's perfect! All I need is a pair of shorts and some fishnets and I'll look amazing." Margery said, clapping her hands together with excitement. Sansa rolled her eyes, and shook her head as she through the shirt across to her friend.

As they kept looking, Margery called Sansa over. "Sansa, what about this?" she said, as she held up an emerald green cocktail dress. "Margery, don't you think that's a little bit formal?" Sansa asked. "It doesn't have to be." Margery responded, "Just wear your leather jacket and boots with it. Come on Sansa! It would look amazing with your hair! At least try it on!" She was practically begging now. "I'll try it on, but I'm not promising anything." Sansa told her, grabbing the dress and heading off towards the fitting rooms.

"So, what do you think?" Sansa asked, exiting the fitting room. Margery's jaw dropped. "Sansa…" is all that Margery managed. "What? Do I look ridiculous?" Sansa asked, as she turned around, to look in the mirror on the front of the fitting room door.

Sansa gasped when she saw herself in the mirror. She looked amazing. The dress ended on her thigh, so her lace garter and gun tattoo were just visible. Her legs looked as if they went on forever. She thought she almost looked beautiful.

"You…you don't think it's too much?" Sansa said to Margery, at barely a whisper. "Sansa…it's perfect. Everyone will be looking at you tonight. And I mean everyone! You look amazing!" she squealed, as she ran up to hug her friend from behind.

Looking at herself once more in the mirror, Sansa thought to herself that tonight was going to be a great night.

xxxxx

When Arya arrived home, after leaving the House, her brothers and the rest of the band were squeezing one last practice in, before the show tonight.

She loved the boys, and Tormund and Sam for that matter, but Theon drove her insane. He was an immature pig, and she didn't understand why her brothers would be friends with him.

She parked her bike in front of the garage, and waited until the boys finished their song before speaking.

"You guys excited for tonight? You haven't play a show for a while, you gonna be able to handle it?" she teased. "I think we've got this handled, baby wolf." Theon answered, "Are your hot sister and her hotter friend gonna be there tonight?" "Hey! You better watch your mouth Theon!" Jon yelled. Robb stepped in between his two guitar players, to attempt to diffuse the tension. Meanwhile, Tormund walked over to Arya.

"I hope you don't mind, but your brothers told me what happened. I just wanted to say, that I'm proud of you for what you're doing." Tormund said to her, as he bumped her with his elbow. She smiled up at the large, red headed man. "Thanks Tormund. I'm glad someone thinks I'm doing the right thing." she told him. "Of course. You're family, Little She Wolf!" he told her, before wrapping his arm around her neck, and messing up her hair. "Tormund! Can you not?!" she exclaimed. He laughed at her as she fixed her hair. "I'm going to shower before work, can you make sure they don't kill each other?" she asked him, walking away. "Anything for my littlest sister!" he yelled to her, as she walked into the house. She simply rolled her eyes.

When she arrived at work that evening, the first thing she noticed was that her employer, Petyr Baelish, was in. She hadn't known he was going to be there tonight. She wasn't going to say that she was excited about it.

"Hey Arya, excited for your brothers' show?" Hot Pie asked. "For the show? Absolutely! To be working during it? Not so much." she said, laughing. Gendry walked up to the pair then, hearing only the end of their conversation. "Milady isn't excited to work with her two best friends this evening? I'm so hurt." he teased, placing his hands over his heart and sniffling once. "Well, I mean, would you want to work with you two?" she told them, turning her back on them. That, apparently, was a poor decision. Hot Pie was quick to grab Arya from behind, and hold her arms down, so that Gendry could tickle her. Their enjoyable moment was quickly broken up by a shout from their boss.

"What do you think you're doing? Get back to work!" Baelish shouted, from the doorway of his office. "Yes Mr. Baelish. My apologies." Arya said quickly. "You're lucky I like your family so much, or this night wouldn't even be happening." Baelish said, eyeing her closely. It was partially true. He had loved Catelyn; he would have done anything for her. But she was gone now. Though, her older daughter did resemble her very closely. He could only hope that this evening, would be a family affair.

xxxxx

"Sansa, what do you think I should do with my hair?" Margery shouted from the bathroom, in her and her brother's apartment. "Just stick it in a cute messy bun. That's always a great go to." Sansa replied. "Good idea. Thanks Sans!" Margery shouted.

Sansa shook her head and smiled, looking back to the mirrored vanity in Margery's bedroom. She was just finishing the wings on her eyeliner, when Margery walked back into the room. "What colour lip were you thinking?" Margery asked her. "I'm not sure, what do you think?" Sansa retorted. "Black or red. Your call." Margery said. Sansa looked back to the mirror, before deciding on the black lipstick. She thought it was the perfect thing to bring her bold look together.

"So, what do you think?" Sansa asked Margery, as she finished pushing the sleeves on her black leather jacket up. "Sansa! You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen! Everyone won't be able to take their eyes off you tonight." Margery squealed. Sansa looked at herself in the full length mirror Margery had on the back of her door. She barely recognized herself. She usually wore her long, auburn hair, down in curls, but decided that braiding one side to her head and teasing the other, would be a good, rebellious look for the show.

"Are you ready to go?" Sansa asked her friend, as she slipped on her black pumps. She had originally planned to wear boots, but she changed her mind last minute. She thought they would look better with her dress. "Ready as I'll ever be." Margery answered. With that, they were out the door and climbing into Margery's SUV, and on their way to a night full of surprises.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello Everyone!

It has been a long year since I uploaded a new chapter, but here it is! This is my longest chapter so far. I honestly thought it was going to be my shortest, but I just kept going and going like the energizer bunny!

Life as a new mom has been absolutely amazing and I love it more than I've ever loved anything, even writing.

So that will take up my time. I usually write when my daughter is sleeping, so it might take a few weeks for a new chapter.

Please be patient with me and just know, that whenever I have the time, I'm working on a new chapter.

I love you all.

Please read and review.

xoxo

Cassiopeia

As always, anything you recognize belongs to the amazing Mr. Martin. I've just borrowed his characters for a time.

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Chapter Ten:

Arya was very excited to watch her brothers' band perform tonight. They usually brought in a good crowd, and looking around the room, she could see they already had. The show didn't start for another hour, and the bar was over half full already. She knew to wear comfy clothes today, since she'd be running around all night. She was happy she decided on her ripped blue jeans and her Nightmare Before Christmas Sally tank. It was a nice enough outfit, but allowed her plenty of movement.

She had been serving at the bar for so long than she had lost count of how many drinks she had served, and she barely even moved from her spot. She was startled slightly by the sudden presence of her twin brothers in front of her. "Need a drink to calm your nerves before the show boys?" she teased. "If that's what you want to call it." Jon replied. "Two beers please, little sis." Robb said. She took two bottles from the cooler behind her and removed their caps, and handed them to her brothers.

"Looks like a good crowd tonight. You excited?" she asked. "Definitely. I think it's gonna be a great show." Robb answered. Just then, the three Stark siblings noticed Tormund and Ygritte walk in the door with their respective cases; Tormund's containing his drum kit and Ygritte's containing the merchandise she had designed and made for the band. Jon walked over to his girlfriend, who winked at Arya, and walked towards the stage with the red-headed siblings, leaving Robb and Arya alone at the bar.

"So, do you know if Sansa is actually coming tonight? I know she said she was but I don't know if she changed her mind." Robb asked. "Yea, she sent me a text about an hour ago, she said she'd be here." Arya told him. "Do you know if she's…bringing anyone?" he questioned nonchalantly, looking away from Arya, as if he didn't care what the answer was. Arya, knowing full well what her brother actually meant, decided she would tease him a little bit first. "What like a date?" she asked, smiling. "Uh…yea…like a date. Or a friend. Just anyone, I guess." he stated awkwardly. "Yes Robb. Margery will be here too." Arya teased. Robb was so surprised that Arya had called his bluff that he spilled the beer he was currently drinking. She laughed and walked to the other end of the bar to grab a new bottle of whiskey for her station, leaving Robb to deal with his embarrassment alone.

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The girls had just arrived to the bar and gotten out to pay for parking when Sansa noticed a man getting off of an all black, Harley Davidson motorcycle a few spaces down. She thought to herself that it was a really nice bike and that Arya would probably love it. She saw the man take off his helmet and leave it on the handlebars, and it was then when she noticed his hair. It was just past shoulder length and had an strange white streak at the front. It was an interesting look she thought. It was as she watched him pull it back into a half ponytail and tie it with what looked like a leather tie, that Margery walked back over to her.

"Ready to go inside?" she asked Sansa. Sansa shook herself out of the daze she had been in and looked at her best friend. "Absolutely." she replied. With one final look at themselves in the reflection of the windows of Margery's SUV, the girls headed inside the bar.

As Sansa paid her cover for the show, she noticed how full the bar actually was that evening. She was shocked. There had to be at least 300 people here! She knew her brothers were good but she never knew how popular they really were in the area.

"Holy shit!" Margery exclaimed. "This place is packed." She stated to Sansa. "I know! I was literally just thinking the same thing. I had no idea the boys had this many fans. To be honest I thought there would be like 25 people max. This is a great turnout!" Sansa told Margery. "Well 300 people or not, we're still the hottest people in this place tonight!" Margery stated, as she bumped hips with Sansa. The girls both giggled before they walked over to the bar.

"Hey pretty ladies, what can I get you both this evening?" Gendry asked them. "Hi Gendry." Sansa said to him, "I'll have a whiskey sour please." "Of course." he replied as he looked over to Margery. "And for you Marg?" he asked. "Uhh…a porn star, I guess." she eventually decided. "Coming right up girls." he told them, as he got to work mixing their drinks.

"Gendry, have you seen Arya lately, I wanted to talk to her before the boys go on." Sansa inquired. "Yeah, she was just headed for break about five minutes ago. She said she was going out front to get some air." He answered. "Thanks" she replied before she left to go to the front of the bar.

She made it about halfway to the front when a thin framed man blocked her path. "Hello Miss Stark. How lovely it is to see you this evening." Peytr Baelish told her, with a smirk coming to his face. He looked over her outfit, his eyes lingering far too long on her chest to be considered anything close to a glance. She knew that he was in love with her mother when they were teenagers but she couldn't understand what his fascination with her was about. She always found him to be creepy and he always made her uncomfortable.

"It's nice to see you too Mr. Baelish. But I am actually on my way to find my sister. I wanted to speak with her before the concert starts. So I really must be going." she replied quickly, as she tried to step around him. "Well then, I shouldn't keep you. I hope you have a lovely evening." he quipped, but not before grabbing her right hand and kissing its back. With that, he walked away.

She shook off the sense of creepiness she now felt and got back to her task of heading to the front of the bar.

She didn't see anyone around when she arrived at the front entrance, so she thought checking outside couldn't hurt. It was there where she found her sister.

"What are you doing outside?" Sansa asked as she walked over to the window ledge her sister was sitting on. "It just got too hot in there. Too many people. I needed to cool down before the show." Arya replied. "What are _you_ doing out here?" she asked Sansa. "I came looking for you actually. I would have been here sooner, but I ran into your lovely boss on my way here." She told her, while making a face.

"Gods help you!" Arya exclaimed while laughing. Sansa ignored her laugh and sat beside her sister. "I wanted to see how you were doing. Just to make sure everything was going okay." Sansa said. Arya's good mood seemed to have dampened a little at Sansa's concern. "I'm okay. It's nothing I can't handle, but thanks for asking Sans." Arya told her, bumping her elbow. Sansa smiled. "I'm happy to hear." She replied. "How has your training been going? Getting lots of bumps and bruises?" "No! I'm barely training to be quite honest. Right now it seems more like he wants me to build my strength. It's very boring." Arya stated.

"Your trainer is a man?!" Sansa questioned, at a fairly high volume. "Oh gods Sansa! I never told you. My trainer…he's the man who saved me that night." Arya said. "No fucking way!" Sansa exclaimed. Sansa couldn't believe her sister failed to mention this crucial piece of information. "That's pretty unbelievable Arya, I mean what are the chances?" she said. "So tell me about it. Are you enjoying it? What's your trainer like?" she asked.

What was her trainer like? How could she describe this stranger to her sister. She didn't know much about him. He was a kind enough person, and he seemed to be a competent instructor, but what else? "Umm…he's nice. He's from Lorath actually. He seems to know what he's doing so that's good. But I don't really know what else to say, I did only just meet him. I barely know him" she answered. "Well I guess that's a good thing!" Sansa commented, laughing to herself. "What does he look like? Is he huge?" she teased.

"No actually." Arya replied. "I would say he's probably the same size as the boys. Like he's muscular, I'll give him that, but not overly big. His hair though, it's pretty different." "What? Does he have an afro or something?" Sansa asked. Arya laughed aloud. "No, nothing like that!" she said. "It's long, like almost my length I'd say. And red. Not as red as yours but still red. But the weird thing about it, is there this white streak, right at the front of it. I've never seen anything like it. Like, there's no way it's dyed, it has to be a birthmark, but still, weird right?" she told her.

Sansa couldn't believe it! That's the guy she had seen earlier getting off the bike in the parking lot! She thought about telling Arya then, but she decided to keep it a surprise. She was sure that he would make himself known before the night was out.

"Hmm…sounds like an interesting guy. Maybe I'll meet him one day." She told her sister instead. She then reached into her pocket to check the time on her phone. She saw that it was 9:20, and the boys were set to go on at 9:30 so she figured it was time to head back inside.

"The boys go on in ten minutes, I think we should probably be headed back inside before they go on. If we missed any of their show, and they found out, I'm sure we'd hear about it non-stop for a month." Sansa said. "Shit! My break was over five minutes ago. We really should get going then." She replied. With that, the girls got up off the ledge, and they head back inside.

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Arya went back behind the bar, while Sansa kept walking, in search of Margery.

"You're late" Gendry teased, as she washed her hands at the sink behind him. "Shit Gendry, I'm sorry. I got caught up talking to Sansa." she told him. "Oh it's okay M'lady, just this once." he replied with a wink. "So how did it go?" he asked her. "Much better than I expected actually. She really just wanted to know what my training was like. Just checking up on me I guess. You know, 'sisterly love'" she said, while putting up air quotes. "That's good to hear." He said to her, smiling.

She could see it in his eyes that he truly was happy for her. She couldn't help but stare at him, enjoying the affection she felt for him. Her attention was suddenly diverted when she heard her brother Robb's voice, coming through the speakers.

"Hey everybody! Thanks for coming out tonight. This is a really great crowd and we hope to show you all a good time. In case you didn't see it on the posters at the door, we are 'Winterfell'! Now who's ready to hear some music?!" he exclaimed.

The crowd was going nuts. Arya was thoroughly shocked by the reception that the boys were receiving. She was so proud of them. She smiled as she heard the opening lyrics to her favourite song.

" _It kills me not to know this, but I've all but just forgotten_

 _What the colours of her eyes were, and her scars or how she got them_

 _As the telling signs of age rain down, a single tear is dropping_

 _Through the valleys of an aging face that this world has forgotten"_

Savior has always been her favourite song. She couldn't explain why, she had just always felt connected to it. Since the show had now started there was a nice break in the crowd, her and the boys could take a short break, catch up on some cleaning and restocking and just take a nice breath.

She had her back turned from the bar, while she was washing her hands in the sink, when a voice asked for a Jack and Coke. Her head instantly shot up, for she recognized the voice immediately.

She whipped around to come face to face with her Lorathi trainer.

He had a smirk on his face, when she finally met his eye.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him. "A man was thirsty. This was why he asked for a drink" he replied, winking, as if the answer was obvious. "Oh…right." she said, as she got started on mixing his drink. "But I didn't mean here in front of me, I mean here at this bar. What are you doing _here_?" she continued, shaking her head.

"Well, a girl knows a man has been in this area before. A man saw a poster advertising the concert here and he hoped to see a girl again." he answered simply.

She hadn't thought about the fact he would be able to put two and two together as to where she worked. Nor did she think that this would have been something he was interested in, otherwise, she may have mentioned it to him.

She put all of her attention into finishing his drink, before pouring it into a plastic cup and handing it to Jaqen.

She wasn't sure what she should say to him. She didn't really know what to talk about. Apparently she didn't have to think of something to say, for after he finished sipping his drink he spoke again.

"Arya Stark looks lovely this night." he said to her. Her eyes went wide and a blush formed on her face. She couldn't believe he had just said that! She had a hard time coming up with an articulate response.

She looked down at herself then looked to him. "I'm sure you're just saying that to be nice. I know I look ridiculous right now. My hair is a mess, I'm covered in sweat and I stink like beer." she told him. She knew she was right, she certainly didn't think she was anything special right now.

"A lovely girl has forgotten, a man has seen her covered in sweat before, and will again." he responded. His eyes had darkened when he said that and, for some reason, it made her blush once more. A feeling came over her and she wasn't exactly sure what that feeling was. All she knew, was that she liked it.

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Sansa was standing near the back of the crowd with Margery when she decided to turn and see how Arya was at the bar. She noticed she was talking to a familiar, red headed man, and she seemed to be enjoying herself. It brought a smile to Sansa's face.

She was enjoying the concert, maybe not as much as Margery was, considering her friend couldn't stop screaming and cheering. Whether the cheering was for the band or just a certain singer she couldn't be sure. Regardless, she was having a wonderful night.

She knew that this was the bands last song and to be honest with herself, she was a little relieved. She almost regretted changing her mind when it came to her shoes. She loved how she looked with the pumps she decided on but the combat boots were far more comfortable, especially when standing for a few hours at a time.

As the band finished their last notes, the crowd was going crazy. She knew that most of the boys appealed to the feminine fans, and those seemed to be the voices she heard above everyone else. Margery's voice being one of the loudest. She loved her best friend dearly, but she couldn't help but laugh.

She was wondering if either her or Robb were going to make the first move. She knew that Margery thought Robb was still with Talisa, so that was what was holding _her_ back. When it came to Robb, she wasn't sure at all. Her best guess was that he didn't want to make a move on his sister's best friend. Obviously Sansa didn't mind, but she didn't want to come right out and say it. They were all adults now and he should just grow some balls and ask her out. Maybe she would have to do a little matchmaking.

She took another look at her sister, who was still talking to her trainer, and she knew her help was needed in more ways than one.

When Margery finally stopped screaming, she turned and looked at Sansa. "Wasn't that amazing? Weren't they amazing! Gods I loved it!" she exclaimed. Sansa couldn't help but laugh.

Soon enough Ygritte came to join the girls, pulling her rolling merch case behind her.

"What a great show, eh girls?" she said to the two friends waiting at the bar. "It really was, Ygritte. The boys sounded great. How did you do tonight?" she inquired. "Sold about $300 worth tonight. One of my best nights actually!" she told Sansa.

"My amazing working girl!" Jon said, appearing from nowhere and wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist. She responded with a quick elbow to his stomach. "Call me a working girl again and I'll cut your cock off and wear it as a necklace." She told him. His eyes widened at her remark, at the same time, her brother burst out laughing.

"Hey She-wolf!" he yelled down the bar, trying to get Arya's attention. She left Jaqen's company then and walked over to the group. The Lorathi saw no harm in following. He was interested in meeting Arya Stark's family.

"What do you need Giantsbane?" Arya asked him. "I wanna buy all of us a round! Beers for everyone! And that includes you!" he exclaimed. She couldn't help but laugh.

She started removing the caps off the bottles and distributing them amongst the group when Robb asked what the plan for the rest of the night was. Sansa spoke up immediately.

"Well I think we should all head back to the house. Hang out, have some drinks, just cool down and have some fun before the nights over." She said smiling to the group. "So the band, the family, and Marg?" Jon asked her.

"Of course." She responded, turning to look at Jaqen. "You're welcome to come too, even though I don't know your name." she told him with a smile.

It was then when the rest of the group noticed there was a new member.

"And who are you?" Robb asked, raising his eyebrow.

"A man is Jaqen H'ghar. He is the trainer of Arya Stark at the House of Black and White" Jaqen told the group, bowing ever so slightly.

"So there we have it!" Sansa announced, clapping her hands together. "The band can meet us at the house. Me and Marg will take her SUV. And I'm sure Jaqen wouldn't mind waiting for Arya to finish so that she can show him the way home. See everyone at the house!" she said, grabbing Margery's hand and rushing for the door before anyone had the chance to object.

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The boys and Ygritte all left and Arya was left finishing her cleaning behind the bar, while Jaqen waited in front of her.

"Sorry for that. Please, don't feel obligated that you have to come. I know Sansa kinda forced you into it." She said to him. "Think nothing of it lovely girl. A man would enjoy a night with the Stark family." he replied.

"Um…okay. Well I'll clean as fast as I can." She told him.

Hot Pie had noticed their conversation and couldn't help but listen in.

"Arry, I can finish up here if you wanna take off. I really don't mind. Baelish has already left, so he's not gonna give you shit." he said smiling.

"Really? Thanks Pie! I owe you one." She replied, as she went over to hug her friend. "Damn straight you do. You're taking me out for a dinner at Crossroads!" he told her. "You got it!" she said back.

She walked to the office to grab her jacket and helmet and met Jaqen at the back door.

"Is a girl ready to leave?" he asked her. "Yep, what kind of car did you drive?" she questioned. "A girl shall see." he answered with another wink.

When they walked out the door and into the parking lot he led her to an all black Harley Davidson motorcycle.

"You ride?!" Arya asked, with more excitement than she meant to convey. "A man loves to ride." He told her, with a true smile appearing on his face. "Wait right here!" she told him.

She ran over to her bike, threw her helmet and jacket on and came right back to him. He was already sitting on his bike just strapping his helmet on his head when she pulled up.

"Ready to go?" she asked him, failing to contain her smile. "A man is ready to follow." He answered. "Let's hope you can keep up!" She screamed over the loud sound of their combined engines.

She quickly sped out of the parking lot, without a look back. Jaqen couldn't help but laugh as he quickly followed behind.

* * *

Please note: The song Savior is entirely the property of Rise Against and I make nothing from including it in this story.


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